Automation World has followed Realtime Robotics’ work with Mitsubishi Electric over the past few years. The most recent news from the company, a supplier of collision-free autonomous motion planning for industrial robots, focuses on its partnership with system integrator Valiant TMS around the application of Realtime Robotics’ Optimization-as-a-Service to improve manufacturing operations.
According to Realtime Robotics, its Optimization-as-a-Service was developed for use when manufacturers need to solve production bottlenecks or are designing a new cell. The goal of the optimization is to reach or beat the manufacturer’s cycle time target. The service lets users know if a programming change will achieve the required cycle time with no impact to existing processes.
While expert programmers can feasibly test several alternatives, Realtime Robotics says the algorithms used in its Optimization-as-a-Service test hundreds of thousands of potential robot paths, determining the best motion sequences based on target sequences, robot reach and other customer-desired parameters to find the shortest cycle time and avoid the need for additional hardware, integrations and deployments.
To use the service, manufacturers only need to supply a simulation file or digital twin of the cell that needs to be improved. Once the analysis is complete and the results validated, the new plan can be transferred to the factory floor for implementation.
In a recently completed multi-robot application, Valiant TMS used Realtime’s optimization service to design motion plans with more efficient motion paths, better interlocks and a faster execution time. This application reduced the manufacturer’s robot cycle time by 17% and cut robot programming time in half.
