FLEETWARE
Mobile Robot Fleet Management
Questions & Answers
Mobile robots are currently seen as a critical component of ‘Industry 4.0’ and their adoption rate into manufacturing and logistics processes is expected to increase in the next few years.
In most applications, several mobile robots will be working within a facility. They must be able to work together as a team, so you’ll need a fleet management system that will automatically allocate tasks to each robot in an efficient way.
Fleetware was designed to automate mission assignment with real time adaptation to changing demands (reassign/cancel mission). See if it’s the right system for you:
An increasing number of logistics companies and manufacturers are looking at Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) to automate material transportation to help improve competitiveness, efficiency and costs.
Until recently, mobile robots have mainly been performing simple, repetitive tasks. Whilst this approach is suitable for many logistics and manufacturing applications, it cannot be applied in complex warehouse environments or Just-in-Time manufacturing, where product variability and sequencing demand a dynamic route/mission assignment.
Sorion’s Fleetware was designed to overcome this limitation and provides a flexible management system for mission assignment, with real time adaptation to changing demands: on-route mission reassignment / cancellation. Fleetware can be used to move and track subassemblies and components between manufacturing cells. In case of order fulfilment applications Fleetware can dynamically route between picking locations.
MiRFleet missions are triggered manually, while Fleetware mission assignment is automatic. The system continuously processes data about the fleet, monitoring every robot’s status including charge level, location, job status, robot capability and more. Then, it intelligently assigns missions and battery charging to the right robot in real-time.
The main differences are outlined below:
Fleetware supports the full range of MiR robots: MiR100, MiR200, MiR250, MiR500 and MiR1000
The system is flexible and adding robots is straightforward.
The Simulation Tool can be used to test and validate the environment and mission assignment logic prior to the installation of physical robots and any changes to layout and capacity.
Fleetware can manage up to 100 robots on a single map.
The system provides real-time monitoring of facility status by robot, product or station/stopping point.
The management utility provides real-time visualisation of the facility and the location of each AMR via a map or robot list view. The data is also available in the EMA event historian and can support Andon displays and fault escalation.
The system has a middleware client interface for ERP/MRP/WMS and SAP systems, this includes SQL, OPC, file and Web service interfaces. Custom interfaces can be added to receive and supply order data and associated order/logistic priorities.
Fleetware is constantly collecting data from the robot fleet.
EMA for Fleetware is a web interface that tracks status events from the robot fleet:
– Waiting and charge times
– Stoppage time classification (blockage, maintenance, waiting for destination available, etc.)
– Overview of fleet utilisation and performance with failure and cause statistics
Fleetware links the operation of AMRs with the overall workflow, processes and environmental systems of a facility, including pick to light systems, manual and automated assembly stations and test systems.
There is a client extension that links in with Sorion’s Sextans-RT process software intended for shop-floor systems, as well as OPC, serial and file connections in the Fleetware Client Interface. If a more specific interface is required there is a REST web service API and custom interfaces may be developed by Sorion, or we can assist with your development team.