With the TM series, Omron has cobots in its range that can be combined with the autonomous mobile robots of the LD series. The cobots can therefore always work where they are needed. This makes the production process flexible and efficient. The tasks that the cobots can perform range from simple pick-and-place applications for parts handling, sorting and palletizing to machine loading, picking, packing and testing. The programming and installation effort is minimal. Thanks to the flowchart-based, intuitive HMI interface and simple teach functions, little prior knowledge is required to program robots.

In many applications, production flexibility can be increased by "breaking up" the traditional production line into individual process modules.

The mobile robots are fully autonomous, intelligent vehicles that orient themselves to the spatial conditions of the facility. The routes do not have to be pre-programmed; this is ensured by the autonomous mapping on the on-board control system. The Enterprise Manager network connection takes over fleet control. For example, it distributes the orders to several mobile robots, selects the appropriate vehicle, optimizes the traffic flow, manages system parameters for the entire vehicle fleet, such as the battery charge status, and communicates with various factory systems (MES, WMS, ERP).

Collaborative robots - known as cobots - can provide greater flexibility in production. These robots, which are designed to work directly with humans within a defined collaboration space, are used in many different industries. They are equipped with an integrated image processing and lighting system that allows products to be accurately detected from a wide viewing angle. Thanks to many core functions such as pattern, barcode and color recognition, inspection, measuring and sorting applications can be implemented effortlessly. This means that autonomous mobile robotics, cobots, process modules and humans can work together, from order receipt to delivery, to realize individualized, flexible production. pb