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Lighthouse project mobile robotics

Mobile robotics

In the fast lane

Combining an Automated Guided Vehicle with a cobot is nothing new. To date, however, these systems have not been affordable for medium-sized companies. Models available on the market start at around 25,000 euros. Solutions with an integrated robot arm start at 70,000 euros. It is difficult to achieve widespread use on the market. Low Cost Automation is working to change this.

For the past four years, igus® has been putting AGVs through their paces in-house. For example, driverless shelves that deliver post and other deliveries in offices. Or around 30 mobile robots that are on the move in production to bring fast transports or stackable containers to your warehouses. The lessons learnt are then incorporated into the development of the igus® robots.

The definition for the lighthouse project is: a mobile robot with integrated HMI and vision that could even tidy up an office on its own. The roadmap envisages different systems being developed along the way. This year, igus® is launching a slimmed-down version for the education sector, which will cost less than €10,000 - including the robotic arm!

How is such a favourable price possible? The development approach pursues a bottom-to-top strategy: components such as classic safety laser scanners are not included in the basic package. This is because these components would go beyond the price range. Nevertheless, it is ensured that the solution can be easily retrofitted for industrial requirements. For example, all VDA5050 specifications are largely taken into account.

There are other technical aspects that the project takes into account. The wider the range of tasks for a mobile robot, the greater the stroke and travel of the gripper must be. There are already solutions for this, but they do not fit into the low-cost concept in terms of price. This is why igus® is presenting an affordable gripper this year that has a large stroke and long travel path as well as a great deal of flexibility when gripping different geometries.

The vision behind all these development efforts extends beyond simple but effective applications, such as transporting components from A to B. Cleaning tasks or serving coffee directly at the workplace show that applications can be found in all areas of life.