Mobile robots mainly need to solve positioning, planning, control and other problems. Currently, the focus of research areas includes environmental perception and modeling, positioning and navigation, environmental understanding, multi-robot coordination, etc. In the future, mobile robots will develop towards the following trends:
1. "Natural navigation + Independent path planning" becomes the mainstream
The development of mobile robots has gone through different stages: track-based (such as tape traction), beacon (such as TWO-DIMENSIONAL code) and beacon-free (such as SLAM, real-time positioning and map construction). SLAM technology can enable robots to achieve positioning and navigation without beacons. It has the characteristics of easy deployment and flexibility, and is more suitable for applications in complex operating environment and frequently changing business scenarios. Therefore, it is favored by more and more customers and is becoming the mainstream trend in the industry.
Industry development shows that the development of navigation technology makes the equipment from "car" to "robot" gradually. With the development of new technologies, AGV has become more autonomous and intelligent, and the evolution of AMR has expanded the application of the industry.
At the present stage, there is no "all-conquering" navigation mode, only according to the characteristics of the application to select the most suitable navigation mode, different applications have different requirements for navigation. Among all kinds of navigation methods, the most popular ones are laser, visual and other natural navigation methods that do not rely on artificial environment.
The diversity of application determines the diversification of technology development direction. The standard of measuring technology is different according to different application needs, and it is difficult to use a unified standard to measure different technologies.
2.Deep learning will be widely used to enhance robots' understanding of their surroundings
AI depth study of the technology in the application of computer vision are object recognition, target detection and tracking, semantic segmentation, segmentation, semantic SLAM can combine object recognition and visual SLAM, introducing the label information in the process of optimization, build bring tag of the object map, realize the contents of the robot on the surrounding environment.
Traditional 2D obstacle detection has many limitations. Artificial intelligence semantic segmentation can judge the situation of people or obstacles more effectively and improve the efficiency of circumnavigation. Robot system can improve the application efficiency and intelligence level.
The accelerated integration of new technology and robotics will further promote the upgrading of products. The autonomy of mobile robot is mainly embodied in three aspects: "state perception", "real-time decision" and "accurate execution". The combination of next-generation information technologies such as the Internet of Things, AI and 5G with robotics enables devices to interact efficiently, data to flow more freely, and algorithms to direct hardware to maximize performance.
3. Large-scale cluster operation becomes inevitable, and more efficient multi-machine cooperation becomes the trend
In practical application, robots usually cooperate to complete specific tasks in the form of cluster. For example: pallet handling of the platform, storage and selection of raw materials, material handling between production lines; Pallet can be moved by unmanned forklift truck, KIVA robot with TWO-DIMENSIONAL code can be used for storage and picking of raw materials, and SLAM robot can be used for material handling between production lines.
Once there are hundreds or even thousands of robots, simple logical thinking can no longer solve the problem, and the efficiency of the whole group collaboration cannot be effectively guaranteed. At this time, robots need to be able to constantly learn and modify their own strategies, and AI will play an important role in this process, so that the whole system is constantly optimized, and the group intelligence becomes higher and higher.
When the scale of mobile robot system expands, the traditional management and scheduling system is facing more and more demanding requirements. Mobile robot management system needs efficient traffic management and task scheduling for AMR with obstacle avoidance and detour ability. Heterogeneous mobile robot systems will coexist in the same application site more and more.
Part of the new mobile robot management system will be distributed and cloud deployment, with reliable redundancy capability; Support online map and policy updates to adapt to changing routes and scheduling policies; It can optimize the scheduling of mobile robots with SLAM detour ability, and manage task allocation and traffic control in the system efficiently and flexibly. The coordinated operation of heterogeneous robot systems in the same field can be controlled by some standardized means.
4 isomorphic simulation, digital twin, to provide customers with one-stop service
In the process of intelligent and automatic transformation, customers will go through a long decision-making chain from scheme idea to scheme design and actual investment. Usually, this decision-making process depends on the experience of designers, which may lead to a large deviation between planning results and actual demand, resulting in waste or delay of construction period.
A set of homogeneous simulation system with complete functions can avoid artificial deviation in the design process and greatly improve the evaluation efficiency. It can provide one-stop solutions for planning, simulation, implementation and operation, realizing homogeneous simulation and digital twin, greatly reducing the risk of robot project planning and improving the efficiency of operation and maintenance.
5 Application scenarios will be further expanded
On the basis of the further development of technology, the application scenarios of mobile robots will be further expanded in the future, and will gradually penetrate into all fields and links of the manufacturing industry. With the further improvement of terminal customers' demand for intelligence, there will be fewer and fewer agV-oriented projects in the future. Therefore, how different types of mobile robots and mobile robots coordinate with other automation equipment will become the key to test the ability of enterprises to implement solutions. In addition, from indoor to outdoor, park logistics and other semi-closed outdoor applications will also be one of the directions of mobile robot development.
In addition to the above three views, the future industrial mobile robot technology will accelerate the integration with artificial intelligence, mobile Internet, big data processing and other technologies, so as to create new technologies, products and application modes.
