by Gary Mintchell | Jul 31, 2025 | Robots
In further AMR news, this from ABB. Notably, much news in this market emanates from a geographical axis of Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland.
As ABB explains:
- ABB extends leadership in AI-powered autonomous mobile robots with ultra-compact, high payload Flexley Mover P603 platform AMR
- AI-driven Visual SLAM and integrated load sensing enable stable and autonomous navigation, including in challenging conditions
- AMR Studio 4.0 version simplifies deployment with no-code programming and real-time fleet management
My previous blog post was about Siemens who also claimed the “most compact” AMR to handle 1500 kg.
ABB launched Flexley Mover P603 platform AMR, the most compact model in its class to handle payloads of up to 1500 kg. Designed to boost intralogistics efficiency, the P603 combines compact design with AI-driven Visual SLAM navigation and the latest version of AMR Studio software that maximizes flexibility by enabling different modules to be integrated into the AMR.
Features and benefits
The AMR P603 is part of ABB’s new era of Autonomous Versatile Robotics, where robots can seamlessly switch between tasks, in real time and with minimal effort. With its AI-driven Visual SLAM navigation, the AMR P603 is smarter, faster and safer (meeting ISO 3691-4 and ANSI 56.5 standards) while delivering industry-leading agility and positioning accuracy of ±5 mm, with no need for reflectors or change in infrastructure. Its differential bidirectional drive system enables smooth movement in tight production and warehouse layouts, while its integrated load detection capabilities optimize stability and safety during transport.
The P603’s agility and compact design makes it ideal for intralogistics applications, including end of line, goods to robot, line supply, inter-process connection, and kitting. It supports a wide range of load types and dimensions, including open and closed pallets, containers, racks, and trolleys, all handled with a single AMR and flexible top model configuration.
Designed with modularity in mind, the AMR P603 can be easily adapted with various ‘top modules’ to handle different load types. Combined with the AMR Studio upgrade, it enables rapid setup and seamless customization, with system integrators and end users able to build and modify applications using drag-and-drop tools. With this and other features such as intuitive no-code mission programming, AMR Studio reduces commissioning time by up to 20 percent. ABB’s Fleet Manager software is also integrated, allowing users to coordinate multiple AMRs in real time across large and dynamic production environments.
Future vision
ABB will continue to focus on fusing its precision hardware with artificial intelligence and software, towards further autonomy and versatility.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 31, 2025 | Robots
This post and the next are Autonomous Guided Vehicle news items from June’s automatica show in Germany. First up, Siemens.
The news in brief:
- Operations Copilot to interact with physical AI agents
- Vision: Multi-agent systems with physical and virtual AI agents for autonomous transport systems and mobile robots
- New software-based safety solution Safe Velocity
Robots and autonomous vehicles come in a wide variety of form factors and use cases. Companies continue to reveal new innovations. This news from Siemens.
Siemens is announcing plans to integrate its Operations Copilot into driverless transport systems and mobile robots. The Operations Copilot is an industrial copilot for machine operation and maintenance. As mobile transport robots increasingly operate as autonomous physical agents powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the Operations Copilot will serve as a user interface for humans. Through this agent-based interface, users will be able to configure autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs), assigning them tasks like transporting materials and goods across the shop floor. This is yet another building block for automating automation in a factory with the help of generative AI.
Future Plans
Siemens plans to expand the capabilities of the Operations Copilot by introducing AI agents specifically developed for use with AMRs and AGVs. These agents support both the commissioning and operation of individual vehicles and entire fleets. Commissioning in particular is a complex and time-intensive process: AGVs need to be integrated into the factory’s existing IT and OT infrastructure and configured for specific conditions like routes and transfer stations. To streamline this task, engineers can rely on the Operations Copilot: It leverages AGV sensors and cameras to generate a detailed understanding of their environment. The Operations Copilot can access all relevant technical documentation of the installed components and retrieve real-time system data through its agent interface. This enables commissioning engineers and operators to work more efficiently, resolve issues faster, and ensure rapid deployment.
Safe Velocity
AGVs are equipped with navigation and sensor technologies, that allow them to move safely and reliably through production and intralogistics environments – with no direct human intervention. When people or objects appear in their path, AGVs automatically slow down, stop, or navigate around these obstacles. Siemens’ new software solution, Safe Velocity, enables the fail-safe monitoring of vehicle speed, which permits the protective fields of safety laser scanners to be dynamically adjusted in real time. The TÜV-certified software is compatible with the hardware and software from a variety of AGV manufacturers and enhances existing safety systems to meet stringent industrial safety standards. Safe Velocity reduces the need for additional safety hardware. This simplifies system architecture, saves valuable vehicle space, lowers engineering complexity, and minimizes cabling requirements – without compromising functional safety.
In the future, the Operations Copilot will interact with AI agents such as Safe Velocity to analyze targeted data from safety laser scanners and monitor the speed of AGVs. The virtual Safe Velocity agent supervises autonomous vehicles and can cooperate with other agents designed for AGV and AMR applications. This way, Siemens is building a multi-agent system where the Operations Copilot orchestrates both physical and virtual AI agents, enabling seamless interactions and deeper integration between the real and the digital worlds.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 22, 2025 | Robots
More robot news emanating from a trade show in Germany. This one concerns additions to the ABB product line.
- Company launches the IRB 6730S, IRB 6750S and IRB 6760 with class-leading performance
- New robots, powered by OmniCore, offer significant performance and sustainability benefits
- ABB’s industrial robot portfolio is the most comprehensive in the market – 11 next generation robot families offering 60 variants
ABB Robotics is expanding its large robot portfolio with the launch of the IRB 6730S, IRB 6750S and IRB 6760. The lineup of 11 next generation robot families comprising 60 variants offers customers new levels of flexibility and choice as well as class-leading performance and sustainability benefits.
The IRB 6730S and IRB 6750S are both shelf-mounted robots and have been designed to support an increase in robot density in the production line. Capable of handling industry-leading payloads of up to 350 kg, the shelf robots can be installed at a height (or on a second floor) and can work with floor-mounted robots to maximize productivity. In addition, the robots provide excellent full vertical and horizontal motion to increase downward reach, making them ideal to optimize the space for die casting, injection molding, and spot welding for use in automotive, foundry, construction, and general manufacturing industries.
The new IRB 6760, a member of ABB’s latest generation of press tending robots, is the highest performance solution to date for mid-sized press lines. When combined with ABB’s carbon-fiber tooling boom, it can boost production output to a market-leading rate of up to 15 strokes per minute or 900 parts per hour. The IRB 6760 press tending robot is recommended for automotive, electronics and general manufacturing industries.
All three new robots are powered by OmniCore, ABB’s advanced controllers for automation, delivering a 20% reduction1 in energy consumption and class-leading performance. For example, the IRB 6750S in conjunction with an OmniCore controller can deliver path accuracy down to 0.9 mm.
The comprehensive lineup of next generation robots has been launched to work in partnership to further optimize plant performance. For example, ten IRB 6730S or IRB 6750S shelf-mounted robots can work in unison with eight floor-mounted IRB 6710~IRB 6740 robots to increase the number of spot welds on a car body from 70 to 80 joints in just 15 seconds, compared to predecessors. In addition, the groundbreaking modular design of the lineup can help reduce total cost of ownership through shared spare parts and service tools.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 21, 2025 | Robots
Innovation continues in the collaborative robot market in Denmark. And to think I once thought the robot market was mature and not interesting.
Universal Robots (UR), a part of Teradyne Robotics, has presented UR Studio, a powerful online simulation tool built on PolyScope X, UR’s most advanced, open and AI-ready software platform.
UR Studio enables customers, partners and integrators to build 1:1 online simulations of their work cell and simulate every key aspect of their setup. With UR Studio, users can test robot movements, simulate reach, speed and workflow, and calculate cycle time, making it the simplest way to configure an optimized cell, maximizing return on investment before deployment even starts.
UR Studio gives users the ability to interact with UR’s robot portfolio and various components – such as pallets, machines and workpieces – and end effectors, including standard grippers often used with UR cobots. Items can be configured to the user’s preferences with the option of importing elements to mimic the workspace. This ensures the final solution fits within the real-world environment, which results in smoother deployments and faster return on investment. UR Studio also allows for potential issues to be identified early on, reducing downtime and avoiding the risk of costly adjustments.
UR Studio is provided without charge and runs directly on desktop browsers requiring no installation – users simply log into the UR Studio website, to get started. With the intuitive interface, navigation of the simulated environment is effortless with pre-made templates for the most common applications such as machine tending, screwdriving, palletizing and pick-and-place, fast-tracking the building and configuration of the virtual work cell. New application templates will be added continuously.
UR Studio is designed to work hand-in-hand with the PolyScope X software platform, which is built to support simulation from the ground up, bridging the gap between concept and operation.
UR Studio is initially available in English and will soon be released in German, Spanish, Chinese (simplified) and Japanese.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 25, 2025 | Robots, Sensors, Software, Technology
This is part two of my reports from the Hexagon Live Global Event. I had been to one previous event for only a day. Hexagon is such a large company comprised of many parts that I had a bit of struggle understanding it all.
The core Hexagon involves measurement, metrology. They have precision measurement tools for the small, medium, and very large targets. Tools for building applications complement these instruments.
Hexagon also comprises much software, having acquired Intergraph years ago and others since. Company focus has become easier with the announced spinoff of much of the software business into a new company called Octave.
Octave
Mattias Stenberg, who is leading Octave, explained the new company’s focus taking the musical analogy of an octave—taking it to the next level. The core of the new company consists of these four businesses from Hexagon:
- Asset Lifecycle Intelligence—Intelligence that drives decision-making efficiency and lifecycle value creation
- SIG—Safety, Infrastructure, and Geospatial—Act on information to save lives, improve infrastructure and enhance services
- ETQ—ETQ Reliance—ETQ Reliance is a cloud-native quality management system solution (QMS), powered by an agile platform that drives 40+ best-in-class applications adaptable to your unique environment. ETQ is the leading provider of quality, EHS and compliance management SaaS software, trusted by the world’s strongest brands.
- Bricsys—Hexagon AB, a global leader in digital solutions, today announced the acquisition of Bricsys, a fast-growing developer of CAD (computer-aided design) software that has been at the forefront of providing open, collaborative construction technology solutions since its founding in 2002. Its CAD platform, BricsCAD, supports 2D/3D general, mechanical, and sheet metal design and building information modelling (BIM) in one system.
I don’t know if this was supposed to be another musical reference, but as a guitarist, I’ll take it as such. Octave is Intelligence at Scale. They see themselves not just as a builder of software, but as helping customers evolve, adapt, predict, prevent by providing pre-trained agents. The platforms will be embedded, context aware, mission critical systems, validated.
This comment struck me. I concluded my first report with the thought that software becomes more powerful, yet it’s still trying to solve the problems I had in 1977. With power comes complexity. Stenberg noted a survey they conducted with C-level executives see more software, more complexity, more dashboards…and yet, less actual visibility. Systems that don’t talk to each other creating silos.
My concluding thought on my last essay was that we must not have a technical problem—we must have a people problem.
Only 20% of execs told them they are getting something from digital transformation. OK, I can’t resist thinking of an irony—yet they order their employees to use AI, or else???
They envision a process where customers build digital first, where the digital twin is a reality (he calls it “mirrorworld”). These will enable the movement from reactive to predictive (another future vision I’ve written about for 20 years or more).
A final vision—Create self-aware, resilient infrastructure.
Robotics
Moving on to another product line—robotics. I shot a short video of Hexagon’s newest robot—Aeon. This “humanoid”, or human-form-factor, robot exhibits quite advanced ability to do the work of human assemblers. When I asked why they developed the robot to look and act like a robot, they told me that existing work stations are designed for humans. Therefore, this is an easy replacement for non-existent human workers on the assembly line.
Digital Twins
Returning to digital twins. I spoke with Jeremy Treverrow about uses of digital twins. Initially, customers could use Hexagon’s precision measurement technology to create a digital twin of a component part. Perhaps this is a service and repair part no longer in production with perhaps no good design information existing.
Using the Hexagon Design X software set, the imported digital twin can be exported in an igis file, used for simulation, and can even design a manufacturing process around it.
A lot of power.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 19, 2025 | Robots, Software
Everyone wants to be NVIDIA’s best friend. This friendship focuses on the world of robotics and simulation. In brief:
Flexiv launches the Flexiv-Isaac Bridge App, empowering developers to design, test, and deploy force-controlled robotics applications in hyper-realistic virtual environments.
The interesting thing is the force-controlled part. I remember an application I wrote about a few years ago where the developer of a robotic prosthetic arm had a design goal of being able to pick up a grape with squishing it. I watch these technologies closely anticipating even greater use cases that will help us all.
Flexiv announced release of the Flexiv-Isaac Bridge App, bringing high-fidelity force-control simulation to NVIDIA’s Isaac Sim. This partnership enables robotics developers and end-users to program, model, test, and deploy complex force-controlled, AI-empowered robotics applications in simulated environments that closely mimic contact-rich real-world conditions.
To highlight this new capability, Flexiv’s engineering team released a video in which a simulated Rizon 4 robot completed the classic Tower of Hanoi puzzle in Isaac Sim. The simulation exactly replicated the robot’s real-world movements and showcased its force-controlled “hole search” and compliant movement capabilities. This underscores Flexiv’s commitment to minimizing the sim-to-real gap to improve training, programming, and operational performance. Additionally, this demonstration emphasizes Flexiv’s drive to ensure seamless compatibility with one of the world’s most widely used virtual robotics platforms.
Isaac Sim enables developers to build hyper-realistic, detailed virtual environments, while Flexiv’s Elements programming system allows robotic applications to be effortlessly programmed and refined. With the Bridge App connecting these tools, customers are empowered to create applications, build digital twins of their facilities, design mission profiles, and run high-fidelity virtual tests before deploying robots in real-world scenarios. These simulations provide valuable insights into application performance, risk assessment, and operational efficiency.
By leveraging both Isaac Sim’s ability to generate real-world simulations and Flexiv Elements’ support for simulating real-world force-based actions, Flexiv aims to accelerate the application development cycle. With developers now able to refine robot movements and iteratively test applications from anywhere in the world, development costs can be significantly reduced, while remote support can ensure greater reliability in real-world deployments.
In its continued commitment to community-driven innovation, Flexiv has made its Tower of Hanoi codebase freely available on GitHub. This initiative encourages developers, academics, and customers to build upon Flexiv’s work, fostering a collaborative ecosystem that promotes creativity and customization.
By combining force-controlled robotics and effortless programming with NVIDIA’s cutting-edge simulation tools, Flexiv is revolutionizing development workflows. This leads the way toward safer, smarter, and more adaptable robotic systems that transform both application development and human-robot interaction.
