Driverless vehicles and autonomous mobile robots are frequently mentioned answers to the questions of expanding potential, improving efficiency and reducing internal logistics costs. But the control of vehicles is sometimes a major challenge, because so far, it is difficult to exchange open data between vehicles across manufacturers. A common communication interface is the answer.
AGV is no longer the vision of the future. When they made headlines in passenger transport pilot projects in urban areas, AGV solutions for internal logistics transportation have become a permanent arrangement. They can be used in a variety of ways in production and warehouse environments, especially in the e-commerce and automotive industries. They are not only used for transportation, but also for order sorting. In order to meet the different requirements of various warehouse systems, there are various solutions.
Application scope of AGV and AMR solutions
Robot solutions help to deliver needed parts and materials to the right place at the right time. AGV and AMR are used to meet the transportation requirements in the warehouse, and also undertake the tasks of assembly and cleaning. These processes need precise planning, because these vehicles are autonomous and require manual intervention only in special cases. Since the route can be continuously updated through sensor based positioning, the expected added value is that the material flow of the production line can be automated without interrupting the ongoing production.
Challenges of heterogeneous routing
Many advantages in scale-up, cost management, efficiency and optimization potential are offset by challenges. The highly dynamic process of modern warehouse requires continuous improvement in real time. Therefore, the corresponding AGV must always respond to a given development without interfering with other processes.
In order to maintain traffic flow and avoid long waiting time, in case of traffic interruption, alternatives or other vehicles must be provided directly. In addition, it is important to avoid deadlocks or live locks -- that is, process interruption due to lack of clear commands, which requires human intervention to solve.
In addition, the use of AGVs must take into account the respective warehouse requirements. What should not be forgotten is the available space: if there is not enough space for manipulation and operation, they will cause more obstacles than help. Especially if we want to establish extended concepts such as milk operation. The work of transporting materials to the production line and picking up empty materials is usually still done manually. With proper planning and intelligent AGV solutions, this process can be automated.
The first challenge of auto drive system integration is a wide range of solutions. Therefore, individual needs can only be met through the combination of models from different manufacturers. Data exchange, that is, communication between vehicles, is a big problem because suppliers have little economic interest in coordinating their solutions with each other.
In order to control the hybrid fleet, the interface between the central control system and the processing hardware and software is essential. One of them is the VDA 5050 standard for communication between the driverless transport vehicle and the main controller.
VDA 5050 communication standard
The VDA 5050 specification is defined by the German automobile industry association (VDA) in cooperation with the material handling and Internal Logistics Association (VDMA), so that new vehicles can be effectively integrated into existing infrastructure. In addition, it helps to connect the vehicle to the existing control station. Therefore, fleets from different manufacturers can operate in the same working environment.
VDA 5050 standardizes a unified data language and previously defined information communication about orders, card data and vehicle status as well as error messages. In addition, sensors, mobile devices, vehicles and embedded systems use this standard to communicate in this common language: the mqtt standard (message queuing telecommunications transport) is used as the message protocol, combined with the JSON structure, and the protocol is extended through additional parameters to make it possible to understand English communication everywhere.
In internal logistics, the main controller communicates with the warehouse management system or ERP system. The use of AGVs creates additional communication paths with fleet managers or control systems integrated into AGVs. However, these two control elements are independent information complexes: the main control manages the route and order situation, and the manufacturer specific fleet manager forms a unit with the AGV. The mqtt standard starts with agents. In this way, the closed units of the AGV and the manufacturer specific fleet manager are opened, and additional hardware or systems can be connected to the control system.
Traction principle of VDA 5050
Using the VDA 5050 standard, the system maintains active communication with mqtt agents, so they work according to the pull principle. Using mqtt, messages are distributed to subchannels, so-called topics, and vehicles can subscribe to these subchannels. When such a topic occurs, the system is ready to forward, process or perform an action. The vehicle only receives relevant information, so the system will not be overloaded with data.
Overall, VDA 5050 can significantly reduce the complexity and challenges of integrating new robotic solutions. It is important to pay close attention to how the use of this technology affects a given process and it structure. With the help of VDA 5050, the hybrid fleet can be flexibly and completely integrated.
Tup is an expert in complex internal logistics projects and is an expert in this field. The company adopts a holistic approach to internal logistics solutions, focusing on individual and precisely customized software packages according to customer requirements. For dynamic route planning that responds to changes in real time, the company has developed a logistics computer "tup. MFC" and a control system "tup. FGS". These products control automated storage technology and optimize storage tasks in real time. In order to determine an effective route and prevent system interruption, the software will constantly analyze and monitor all operating states.
For tup, driverless transportation system is not only convincing hardware, but also software must play a role. In order to fully realize the performance potential, operation must be uninterrupted, especially high performance, even if many other vehicles and participants must be considered. High performance dynamic routing ensures that cost, efficiency, and expansion goals are met. The time window of the intersection and the location of other traffic participants are always taken into account. Due to the rich experience accumulated in many projects with complex material flow and routing scenarios, tup is an ideal partner.
