they’re not going to take sick days, for example. But if they
are running slowly, then the throughput just isn’t there?
AExactly. It is kind of crazy how many new suppliers for obots are showing up at these industrial fairs, both
here in the United States and in Germany. But if you really
look carefully into these various vendors, you can still see
some differences. Not every robot type is really suited yet
to run 24/7, in my mind. They look nice. They are actually
well-designed, but if you compare them, you will see there
are huge differences. So really, you have to be careful about
what type of robot you are selecting, and
you certainly have to run some tests.
QIt sounds like there are a number of challenges. The safety restrictions, the
reliability, the speed, and also the reality
that some of the collaborative robots, or
cobots, are not actually operating in a
fashion that’s so collaborative yet. Is that
right?
AYes, that’s right. Then, keep in mind that you have to look at more than
just the robot itself; you also have to look
at the gripping technology. That also has
to be collaborative. Even if your robot
and your gripper are designed to avoid
harming the operator, you still have to watch what kind of
work piece you are actually handling. If the work piece has
sharp edges, then you still have to come up with a solution
for avoiding a collision between the robot and the operator.
QSo, the gripping technology is one aspect of the ware- house-robotics development picture. But I believe that
in some of your writings, you’ve suggested that pallet moving is going to be one of the up-and-coming applications
for robots?
AAbsolutely. When we install systems with large inte- grators, I often see many pallet conveyor styles being
implemented. Sometimes, there are miles of conveyors. I
think there is a trend coming up with replacing these pallet
conveyors with mobile robots. We can see it with the systems now [used] at Amazon Robotics. They have been a
game-changer in the industry. Now, robotic technology can
also be deployed to heavier items, like pallets. I think they
are definitely much more flexible [than conveyors], and you
don’t have to bolt something onto a floor, which allows you
to be more creative in your layouts.
Q As these applications develop, particularly with regard to pallet picking, it seems like one of the enabling technologies to accelerate that might be 5G wireless technology,
because really, they always have to have a data link in order
to work, right?
A That is true. We are closely watching what 5G will bring to us. Certainly, you have to have the infrastructure
first. From what we are looking into, it feels pretty promising. You can connect lots of sensors and actuators to
your automation system and start communicating in real
time with these devices. That allows you
to actually come up with some newer,
smarter solutions requiring less cabling
and reducing costs in terms of commissioning those systems. That is an interesting trend, and it definitely will change
certain things. Look at mobile robots, for
example. You always need the navigation principles and methods—so you can
maneuver from point A to point B inside
a warehouse, for instance. The normal
approach is using some sort of “SLAM”
technology.
QYou are referring to simultaneous localizationandmapping?
A Yes, exactly. But it all depends on usually a leader sen- sor acquiring the data, and with 5G coming up, you
actually have an exact position where your object is. So,
you may not even need those sensors anymore, because in
the communication protocol, you can actually detect where
you are. That means that you can more or less simplify your
navigation concepts—there’s no need for a map anymore.
I think that definitely will change the way we integrate
mobile robots.
QThat would be a different approach. And yet the 5G technology is something that’s really not in the control
of the vendors or platform developers. They have to do that
in conjunction with the telephony providers. Is that right?
A Absolutely. There are some approaches now being dis- cussed in Europe in which, let’s say, the OEMs request
their own frequencies. They have to be somewhat independent from the telephone suppliers. I think in Europe,
we just awarded all these contracts recently, but certain
frequencies are specified for these OEMs. Then they can
basically be running on their own. n
