Driverless robots take inspiration from nature
Autonomous robotic vehicles that can organise themselves like a swarm of insects have been developed by researchers in Germany.
Said to improve the flow of materials and goods in the warehouse environment, the Multishuttle Moves robots take inspiration from the way ants solve complicated tasks utilising swarm intelligence.
According to Professor Michael Hompel from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, the 50 autonomous vehicles that have so far been developed are all locally controlled. "The intelligence is in the transporters themselves," he explained. "We rely on agent based software and use ant algorithms based on the work of Marco Dorigo. These are methods of combinational optimisation based on the model behaviour of real ants in their search for food."
When an order is received, the shuttles are informed of this through a software agent. They then coordinate with one another via WLAN to determine which shuttle can take over the load. The job goes to whichever free transport system is closest.
According to Prof Hompel, the shuttles are completely unimpeded as they navigate throughout the space, with no guidelines. This is made possible by their integrated localisation and navigation technology.
The vehicles also have a newly developed hybrid sensor concept, with signal based location capability, distance and acceleration sensors and laser scanners. This hi-tech arsenal allows them to compute the shortest route to any destination. The sensors also help prevent collisions.
Hompel says the most innovative thing about the Multishuttle Move robots is that they can adapt to different surfaces. As well as being more flexible and scalable than other devices on the market, they are also able to grow or contract depending on the task in hand.
The researchers are now trying to determine how the autonomous transporters can improve intralogistics.
Hompel concluded: "We want to demonstrate that cellular materials handling technology makes sense not only technically but also economically as an alternative to classic materials handling technology and shelf control units. If this succeeds, the autonomous vehicles could soon be going into service in warehouses."
