Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and industrial robots both offer substantial gains in efficiency, but what happens when you combine the two?
In the video above we look at just such a solution in the form of the KUKA Mobile Robot (KMR)
from KUKA Robotics Corp.
“This has our standard LBR iiwa collaborative robot mounted on top of our mobile platform,” explained Pat Duda, senior sales applications engineer at KUKA. “The mobile platform uses our Omnimove wheels, so it's capable of moving in any direction, along any path.”
The mobile platform also has autonomous navigation and vision capabilities, thanks to the KUKA.NavigationSolution software, which enables it to see dynamic surroundings like moving people.
“There's no special installation required in the factory. It's using complete sensor input and has scanners that can see and map the environment,” Duda explained.
With the collaborative robot arm, the mobile platform can perform deliveries completely autonomously – picking objects where they are stored and delivering them to programmed destinations without needing human intervention to give and take deliveries.
Users can also program how the mobile reacts to human interaction, as Duda explained.
“You can program how the stop works. The mobile unit has sensors that detect if someone is too close and will stop automatically. As soon as the person moves away, it will restart automatically, resuming its cycle. The collaborative robot can be programmed to stop and wait for operator gestures before restarting.”
The LBR iiwa has a standardized flange and is able to work with most end effectors for greater application diversity. The arm is offered in a 7kg and 14kg models.
For more information, watch the video above and visit the KUKA Robotics website.