INTERVIEW WITH MOVIĜO ROBOTICS

MoviĜo Robotics offers industry 4.0 intralogistics solutions. They design and produce their own vehicles, but the vehicles are just a part of their solution. The company is actually more a software company that produces its own autonomous mobile robots (AMR). The vehicles transport the payload, but to do it efficiently, it needs clever software. 

An Industry 4.0 solution needs to communicate with all kind of third-party machines and systems. MoviĜo Robotics creates interfaces with ERP, WMS, SCADA or MES systems and let their fleet communicate with doors, elevators, production lines, wrapping machines and other machines.

Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?

MoviĜo Robotics: We deliver AMR solutions. A solution consists of an AMR, software, integration and services. 

AMRs

Our AMR is called Ŝharko, which means shark in Esperanto. Reason is that a shark needs to keep moving, otherwise it will die. We design and produce the Ŝharko ourselves, which enables us to adapt the vehicle based on requirements, either from the market or ourselves. Because we have a strong focus on production companies, the Ŝharko needed to be very compact. Space is scarce in factories and therefore the aisles in production environments are narrower than in warehouse/3PL environments. 

Task creation software & Integration

An important part of the solution is the way to create tasks. There are multiple options for tasks creation

Integration with ERP, WMS, SCADA or MES. We’ve created a standard REST API or we can create a custom interface. 

Using our vision system MoviĜo Intelligent Camera Kit (MICK). We place cameras in the facility that detect a pallet on a certain location. Automatically a collection task is triggered. 

Third party devices communicating with each other is one of the aspects of Industry 4.0. We let our system communicate with doors, elevators, production lines, wrappers, palletizers, fire systems etc. So, a production line can trigger a pick-up task or the Ŝharko can trigger a door or the wrapping line. All without human intervention.

Although we seek to minimize human input, sometimes the best option is a human that creates a task. We developed virtual button software that works in a browser.

Order management software

We have built our own order management software, because order management software on the market didn’t meet our requirements. Processes in factories can be very complex and the order management should be able to cope with these processes. Timeliness is very important, because you don’t want production lines to stand still because there are no raw materials. So we can say that order x needs to be done within a certain time or before a certain time. The order management algorithm constantly prioritises all the tasks based on priority, timeliness and location of the AMRs. We seek to minimize the time the Ŝharko drives without payload.

Services

We know the capabilities of our solution, so we provide consultancy to companies that are automating intralogistics to further improve their processes. Usually, companies automate tasks that are now run by humans, but in most cases we see opportunities to even further improve processes. This is part of implementing the solution. When we do a project we guarantee success, so smooth implementation of the solution very important.

E.E: What’s the news about new products?

MoviĜo Robotics: When you want to remain the most efficient AMR, you need to improve all aspects that save seconds. 

Smart Lifting technology

MoviĜo Robotics’ enhanced lifting technology enables the Ŝharko10 to adjust its lift depending on payload characteristics and it can move its lift while driving. Each load that doesn’t require the Ŝharko to go to its maximum lifting height, saves time and increases efficiency.

Real time order prioritization

MoviĜo Site, the company’s order management software, checks real-time if there are orders that can be done now, based on prioritisation and location of the Ŝharko. It can interrupt active missions and switch to high priority one or pick up a pallet on its way to a pick-up order. By constantly checking to optimize the orders, Ŝharkos are set for optimal performance.

Vision technology

The latest release of the already clever MoviĜo’s Intelligent Camera Kit can do even more clever things. The automatic creation of pick-up tasks when the system detects a pallet and location management in buffer areas using vision is further improved. In the latest update the system can detect that the pallet is empty and automatically generate a replenishment order.

SAP Integration

MoviĜo created a standard interface for SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning, Warehouse Management and Manufacturing Execution modules.

E.E: What are the ranges of products?

MoviĜo Robotics: We don’t deliver a range of products, we create solutions based on the customer’s process. We determine what the best way is to create tasks (through integration with WMS/ERP, vision, integration with devices or virtual buttons) and see what vehicle is required. Since we design and produce the AMR’s ourselves, we can adapt the vehicle if that is required.

E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?

MoviĜo Robotics: The market is growing rapidly because of labour shortages. A lot of companies can’t find people for non-value-adding activities and want their skilled staff doing what they are paid for and that doesn’t include moving pallets around. Also, companies acknowledge the reliability and predictability of AMRs, which helps then further improve processes.

E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?

MoviĜo Robotics: That the focus is shifting from the vehicle to a solution. In the early stages end users had to adapt their processes based on the characteristics (and limitations) of the AMR, and now it’s the other way around. 

E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?

MoviĜo Robotics: We see a lot of potential in our vision technology: MoviĜo’s Intelligent Camera Kit. We seek to minimise human input in the process and by using vision we can create tasks automatically and can determine free locations in buffer area that are used by humans as well without manual location management. 

E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?

MoviĜo Robotics: This year we sold out, so we are completely full with implementing all the solutions. For 2023, we expect to do twice as much project as we did in 2022.