In an effort to reduce “wasted” time transporting parts, pallets, and other components throughout a facility, plant and warehouse managers are utilizing MiR mobile autonomous robots for such tasks. The robot safely maneuvers around people and obstacles, through doorways and in and out of elevators — all without having to alter your facility. This is thanks to the robot’s built-in sensors and cameras and sophisticated software, which allow the robot to move autonomously. MiR can continuously navigate a facility, finding the best path each time. But what if you don’t require — or even necessarily want — your MiR robot to make continuous laps around your facility? What if you want the ability to pick and choose when MiR makes its rounds? Our solution: pairing MiR with a custom-built call box.

SUMMONING MIR

In the video below, a machinist uses a custom-built call box to summon a MiR robot for material drop-off and pick-up. He presses the “Call” button to bring MiR to a preprogrammed location near his work space. MiR receives the request and moves through the warehouse, navigating autonomously without a preplanned path, to the desired location. The machinist removes the raw material from MiR’s hopper and replaces them with completed pieces. Finally, the machinist presses the “Send” button, which sends MiR to the shipping department (another preprogrammed location) for packaging and shipping of the completed parts.

HOW IT WORKS

The call box uses MiR’s internal communication functions to send and receive information. The communication protocol can be set up to work wirelessly over a local Wi-Fi network, or using MiR’s built-in Wi-Fi router. In this application, as soon as the call box is turned on, it automatically queues and starts running a specific program on MiR. The program then waits to receive signals from the call box. When a button is pressed on the call box, a register in MiR is changed, the running program sees the change, and MiR moves to the preprogrammed position. These positions can quickly be changed using the MiR online interface. The possibilities for the call box — or similar interactive devices — are almost unlimited.

Read more about MiR autonomous robots here.

 

For more information on custom solutions for the internal transport of material, contact The Proud Company‘s Sales Engineers at 412.838.0230.