Ensuring Safe Speed and Positioning in Autonomous Mobile Robots

Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are rapidly deploying across warehouses, factories, and healthcare facilities to handle complex workflows safely alongside humans. However, maintaining reliable functional safety without adding excessive hardware complexity or cost remains a challenge for OEMs, system integrators, and end users. Successfully navigating these hurdles requires integrating safety into the core machine design from day one rather than treating it as an afterthought.

Account for dynamic environments: Match safety features to tight operational zones, dynamically adjust laser scanning fields during real-time path optimization, and adapt to evolving risk assessments using flexible, modular software and hardware.

• Consolidate internal hardware: Reduce component count and save vital AMR chassis space by integrating safety, PLC, motion control, and navigation onto a single compact controller.
• Coordinate fleet-wide safety: Use secure wireless protocols—such as Fail Safe over EtherCAT (FSoE) across a black channel—to link supervisory systems with individual robots for facility-wide safety management.
• Optimize costs and commissioning: Avoid over-dimensioning expensive safety encoders by leveraging standard signals and unified diagnostics frameworks, speeding up deployment and reducing maintenance downtime.