Use Case
Autonomous Material Handling at Ford Otosan’s Yeniköy Plant: Revolutionizing Material Transfer in Production with Bluepath Robotics Tugger Low and Underdrive Differential AMRs.
In today’s competitive manufacturing landscape, the efficiency of intralogistics processes is critical for business success. Ford Otosan’s Yeniköy Plant have adopted a pioneering approach in this area, automating part transfers and optimizing production flow using Bluepath Robotics Tugger Low and Underdrive Differential Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). This use case demonstrates how robotic automation is transforming modern manufacturing facilities.
Ford Otosan’s Need and Partnership with Bluepath Robotics: Ford Otosan aimed to move beyond traditional material handling methods to achieve its lean manufacturing goals and ensure an uninterrupted flow of materials. In this pursuit, Bluepath Robotics innovative AMR solutions offered an ideal partnership by providing autonomous systems capable of operating effectively even in dynamic and narrow production areas.
The Bluepath Robotics Tugger Low AMR is designed to ensure just in time part delivery on Ford Otosan’s production lines. These tow type AMRs automatically handle dollies along fixed routes, guaranteeing a continuous flow of necessary parts to assembly lines.
Loading and Authorization: The Tugger Low confidently begins its cycle at the designated loading point. Once fully loaded with materials on its attached dollies, it awaits authorization from Bluepath Robotics’ Fleet Management System, which signals its readiness to proceed. This ensures real-time responsiveness and easy integration into Ford Otosan’s automated setup.
Automated Drop-off and Empty Dolly Pickup: Upon receiving approval to head towards the assembly line, the Tugger Low demonstrates its auto drop-off capabilities. It efficiently delivers the loaded dollies, then easily picks up empty dollies without any delay.
Backward Maneuvering and Return: Utilizing top-notch sensor technology, the Tugger Low effortlessly picks up empty dollies. It then proceeds to a designated loading area with its empty dollies, awaiting the next task from the Fleet Management System.
Continuous Operation and Charging: Low on power? Not a problem! The Tugger Low AMR is autonomously guided by the Bluepath Robotics Fleet Management System to the nearest charging station, ensuring optimal energy levels for continuous 24/7 operation through opportunity charging.
Efficient Unloading: At the unloading station, efficiency is key as the Tugger Low swiftly unloads the empty dollies, maintaining the workflow’s efficiency and maximizing productivity for significant business success.
The Tugger Low’s compact design allows it to move comfortably even in confined spaces, perfectly suiting Ford Otosan’s high-density production environment. Its high towing capacity provides a reliable solution for transporting large and heavy loads, reducing reliance on human labor while increasing operational efficiency and optimizing factory space.
The Bluepath Robotics Underdrive Differential AMR is designed to operate beneath customized payload platforms and fixtures, as showcased in the Yeniköy Assembly Line. These robots offer superior flexibility in material handling within complex factory layouts and dynamic workflows.
Task Generation and Dispatch: The Underdrive Differential advances towards a loading station to fulfill tasks. These tasks are automatically generated either by Ford Otosan’s central software systems or manually via a call button.
Product Lifting with Lift Module: Utilizing its Lift Module, the Underdrive Differential precisely lifts products at the designated station, preparing them for transport. See the lift feature in action below.
Navigation with Natural SLAM: With its Natural SLAM technology, the Underdrive Differential navigates efficiently to the designated destination station, minimizing wasted time thanks to its advanced obstacle avoidance capabilities.
Real-time Directives and Communication: All directives and operations for the Underdrive Differential are generated in real-time via data from the ERP system and efficiently assigned within the mobile robot fleet via Bluepath Robotics’ Fleet Management Software.
Robot Cell Integration: When entering or exiting a robot cell, the door is automatically opened using the Peripheral Communication Module. This is Bluepath Robotics’ proprietary system that facilitates easy communication between the mobile robots and PLC systems and other IoT products, ensuring smooth transitions and safe operation within automated cells.
Precise Positioning with 360-Degree Rotation: The Underdrive Differential, with its impressive 360-degree rotation capability, precisely positions the product (load) within the cell, ensuring efficient and accurate placement.
Optimized Battery Management: The Underdrive Differential’s battery management, optimized through the Fleet Management System, supports 24/7 operation with its opportunity charging feature, allowing the robot to autonomously head to charging stations during brief idle periods to maintain optimal energy levels.
The Underdrive Differential’s advanced differential drive system enables high maneuverability, allowing it to navigate tight turns and pivot on the spot, supporting agile manufacturing processes. Its ability to adapt quickly to instantaneous changes and varying transportation needs makes it ideal for dynamic workflows.
Both Tugger Low and Underdrive Differential AMR models are easily integrated with Ford Otosan’s factory systems, including their Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). This integration ensures automated task assignment, real-time tracking of material flow, and dynamic route adjustments. The robots operate within safety-certified parameters with pLd safety level, utilizing advanced lidar, cameras and other sensors for robust obstacle detection and avoidance, ensuring safe coexistence with human workers and other factory equipment. They also support VDA5050 communication protocols for scalable fleet integration in the future, allowing Ford Otosan to easily expand their AMR fleet and manage them centrally. The robots operate continuously, contributing to consistent material flow, reducing downtime and minimizing human error.
The successful deployment of Bluepath Robotics Tugger Low and Underdrive Differential AMRs at Ford Otosan’s Yeniköy factories has resulted in significant operational savings and efficiency gains. Ford Otosan expresses strong satisfaction with the performance and reliability of these solutions, stating that they have optimized their logistics and material handling operations at scale. This success story clearly highlights Bluepath Robotics’ leadership in industrial automation and the added value it provides to its customers.
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