POWER


Mobile manipulators: T


enables new era of robotics Marco van der Linden – PULS UK


he growing shortage of skilled workers is increasing the pressure on industrial companies to automate their processes. Flexible, cost-effective and


easy-to-implement robotics solutions, such as autonomous mobile robots and collaborative robots, are therefore in demand. Mobile manipulators connect both robot systems, but often cannot be used economically due to insufficient battery power.


Mobile manipulators can do more than their battery power allows


Collaborative robots (cobots) are one of the most dynamically growing segments of robotics. In contrast to conventional industrial robots, which have to be shielded from the human workplace by a protective device, they are designed for safe collaboration with humans. Mobile manipulators (MoMas) combine the advantages of cobots with those of autonomous mobile robots (AMR). A robot arm is mounted on an AMR. With MoMas, even more complex handling and transportation tasks can be automated with one system without having to install a stationary robot and a transport system with several AMRs. This makes this type of robot a flexible solution for a wide range of applications in industry, logistics and other areas. For the company, this means that investment requirements are reduced, as a separate robot is no longer needed for each process.


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Mobile manipulators are ideal for: Pick-and-place applications


Equipping and testing production machines and machine tools Material transportation


Order picking of containers with assembled parts to the test station


Vehicle inspection (cracks or paint on moving products)


Laboratory automation


Wafer production (semiconductor industry)


Applications in the healthcare sector


The market for mobile manipulators has grown continuously in recent years. Experts assume that this trend will continue in the coming years. This is because, in most cases, complex automation solutions do not pay off for the automation of small parts handling for small and medium-sized series. In practice, however, economical operation of the systems often fails due to the energy supply. As a MoMa combines two systems that were originally developed separately, the two technologies are often not considered as a holistic construct during design. The energy supply in particular proves to be a weak point. As the battery is only designed to supply the AMR, the operating time of the system drops rapidly if another power guzzler has to be supplied along with the robot arm.


“ In contrast to


conventional industrial robots, which have to be shielded from the human workplace by a protective device, they are designed for safe collaboration with humans. Mobile


manipulators (MoMas) combine the advantages of cobots with those of autonomous mobile robots (AMR).


This means that 24/7 operation of MoMas is hardly possible with the AMRs currently available on the market and their battery capacity. In order to bridge the downtimes, additional systems have to be purchased to take over during the charging breaks. This necessary oversizing of the MoMa fleet makes the cost-effectiveness of such systems considerably more difficult.


32 JULY/AUGUST 2024 | ELECTRONICS FOR ENGINEERS


Wireless Inductive charging system


Fig 1: Mobile manipulators combine the advan- tages of cobots with those of AMR.


Wireless Power Kit enables complete system consisting of AMR and Cobot


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It is clear that the energy supply of MoMas must be thought through further if the systems are to reach the mass market. The problem is that there is hardly any space in the AMR platforms for additional batteries to extend the operating time. Integration into existing AMR models is difficult. One solution to this is the Wireless Power Kit, a system consisting of an intelligent charger and intelligent batteries. The kit is installed in the MoMa and efficiently supplies the complete system of AMR and cobot with sufficient energy for its tasks.


The Wireless Power Kit can be equipped with a scalable number of batteries and has an inductive charging system. It can be


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