Trends for AGVs and AMR are moving towards more autonomy. As a result, FTS and AMR are forced to work together. Do they understand each other?

AGVs and AMRs have the standard VDA5050 interface and can therefore also communicate with the control center. New software can be easily tested by the customer using a platform such as Eduard and the results can then be transferred 1:1 to large AGVs and AMRs. This means that applications can be evaluated without a great deal of simulation work, as the software remains essentially the same, whether in Eduard or in the large system. A digital twin helps with planning and expansion and can be added to the platform on request.

Eduard's drive systems must also meet the future requirements of AGV and AMR concepts. Which drive systems do you use for the platform and why?

We use DC micromotors with precious metal commutation from Faulhaber in our training and PoC platform. Despite their small size, these can generate a large torque and are particularly power-efficient. They are also easy to control and are suitable for high-precision control loops. For larger platforms, we used large DC motors from the same manufacturer to enable a quick proof of concept, for example easy control using our own electronics. If necessary, we then replaced these with BLDC motors for the application, as these are maintenance-free and durable.

Intralogistics 4.0/Industry 4.0 brings with it the need to network AGVs and AMRs: What about operating via the cloud or rather via the edge? And what about security/hackers?

Depending on the manufacturer, the systems can be made "unhackable" to a certain extent by separating the internet and hardware. Robots have safety scanners with distance sensors to prevent them from hitting the wall. This means that even a hacker attack cannot cause the robot to make any dangerous movements. And the process data in the network is as secure as the company network itself.

Where is research still needed for the development of future AGVs and AMRs and how will your test platform change under these requirements? At the same time, the requirements for drives are also increasing. What about the drive of the future?

Robots need to be better networked with each other. For example, four robots working together on a transportation task, according to the motto: many smaller robots instead of one large one. This requires more smaller motors that have to work with absolute precision, otherwise the swarm of robots will stumble or fall out of sync. To improve reliability, encoders must be absolutely fail-safe so that robots are not affected by external interference. Faulhaber therefore sometimes uses two encoders per motor.
If you take the different gearbox variants from Faulhaber with their different lengths and diameters, together with gearboxes, encoders, controllers etc., you can generate 25 million combinations in purely mathematical terms, a considerable proportion of which have already been realized at Faulhaber. Every company will find the optimum drives, even for future applications.

Hanover Fair, Hall 6, Stand B22