Aethon launches new autonomous mobile robots at Automate 2017

Aethon has demonstrated new products at Automate 2017 in Chicago specifically designed to address the needs of manufacturers looking to automate material movement and connect islands of automation within their plants.

Aethon showcased new mobile robots and software control systems allowing their robotic platform to achieve Level 4 autonomy. (Full list of autonomy levels, as published by SAE.)

Aethon will feature the T3 and T3XL model robots, which represent the newest innovations in automated material movement. 

A live demonstration of these robots will showcase autonomous navigation, automatic pickup and drop off, as well as collaborative functions.

The newest robots feature an expanded 1,400 lb load capacity, 48” load platform and omnidirectional navigation.

In addition to the robots, Aethon will introduce a software platform that allows their customer’s engineering support staff to manage their entire fleet.

Algorithms provide the customer’s engineering staff to manage the robot fleet including unattended management.

Engineers are able to connect and remotely control any robot in their fleet even from a remote facility.

This same technology has been proven in Aethon’s cloud command center and has successfully managed robots that have made over 20 million deliveries and traveled more than 3 million miles.

The TUG robot provides greater autonomous operation than other mobile robots on the market. As an example, it is able to autonomously locate its payload, pick it up, transport it and drop it off all without supervision or added infrastructure.

This capability is very unique in the mobile robotics space and allows users to generate a better return on investment since labor is no longer needed at the loading and unloading zones.

It also enables the fleet to respond directly to machine-to-machine communication since the robot can initiate and complete tasks with no human involvement, says Aethon.