Mobile robots liberate human labor in factories, realize the closed loop of material flow and data flow in the whole production cycle, and help enterprises to achieve double improvement of production efficiency and production effectiveness.

Today, the development speed of big data and artificial intelligence has far exceeded people's expectations, and various intelligent applications have emerged one after another. The world has fully entered the digital era and intelligent era. At the same time, positive changes are taking place in the development mindset of manufacturing industry, from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, from automation to informationization and intelligence gradually. 

In addition, consumer demand is driving the transformation of the manufacturing industry from mass production to mass customized production. The frequency of factory production line upgrades and replacements is accelerated, so that achieving a manufacturing mode with flexibility and intelligence is the core goal of smart factory technology.

Mobile robots liberate human labor in factories, realize the closed loop of material flow and data flow in the whole production cycle, and help enterprises to achieve double improvement of production efficiency and production effectiveness.

Mobile robots are usually exposed to different application environments in a subdivided and complicated industrial scenario. For example, there are different handling methods, such as roller transfer, conveyor belt transfer, clamping and picking, etc.; different shapes of objects, such as pallets and bins, etc.; and different volumes of objects to be handled.

In order to adapt to the various needs of the factory, it is required to select different types of models in the same working area when adapting mobile robots. Then, when different types of models work in the same work area, there must be mutual overlap and cooperation.

How to make different robots work together efficiently in the same work area to meet the actual production requirements of customers is one of the key research and development directions of Youibot when conducting product development.

Robotic multi-machine collaboration involves multiple levels.

(1) The source problem of the handling task needs to be solved. It is necessary to connect equipment, upper-level systems MES, WMS, etc., and collect the task information of each link in the production process before making overall allocation.

(2) Information exchange of robots between different workshops and floors. Visual perception and intelligent obstacle avoidance among multiple robots on the same floor.

(3) Safe interaction between the robot and the equipment when executing loading and unloading.

(4) The robot needs to record and report key status data in real time during the execution of tasks, so that managers can easily grasp the task execution and the real-time operation status of the robot.

Software and hardware integration to achieve multi-machine collaboration

On the basis of the standardization of robot body hardware, Youibot has developed YOUIFleet (robot scheduling management system) and YOUITMS (robot task management system) with completely independent intellectual property rights.

YOUIFleet

YOUIFleet supports multiple robots of different types to run at the same time in a complex workshop environment, realizes intelligent path planning, and can simultaneously take into account dynamic obstacle avoidance between robots, between robots and equipment, and between robots and humans. At the same time, it also has traffic control, dynamic obstacle avoidance, optimal path management, cross-floor transportation, elevator/security door access management, etc.

YOUITMS

YOUITMS is used for the overall management of the business, connecting the factory's business systems (eg MES, EAP) to the north, and connecting to the machine or IOT and other IoT devices/systems in the south, realizing the intelligent disassembly and consolidation of transportation orders, intelligent assignment of tasks, delivery of handling tasks, real-time feedback of robot execution results, and safe interaction with machines during execution.

While fulfilling business needs, it also realizes traceability and comprehensive management in the process of information flow, so that everything can be traced back and traces are left everywhere, completely opening up the information islands in each link of the factory, and helping the digitalization and intelligentization of enterprise manufacturing.

With multiple systems collaborating in production and multiple robots running on the same field, the complexity of the software rises dramatically. Youibot combines software and hardware to complete a closed loop of data throughout the production lifecycle.