Pressure in terms of costs and efficiency demands a lot from modern production. With the ReBeLMove Pro, igus is launching a modular autonomous mobile robot (AMR) that is easy to customise according to the modular principle, from small load carrier transport to robot solutions. It can be integrated into company processes without any previous experience. The ReBeLMove Pro is available from just €39,800, which makes it around 25 per cent more cost-effective than most competitor models.

The ReBeLMove Pro is based on a compact, rectangular transport robot on four wheels with an electric drive. The AMR is 795mm long, 560mm wide, 195mm high, weighs 60kg and is painted in black with orange accents typical of igus.

The robot can navigate autonomously at a speed of up to 2m/s, carry up to 250kg or pull up to 900kg in material handling. One battery charge is enough for a full working day of eight hours. By adding attachments to the ReBeLMove Pro, users can adapt it to different tasks in material handling. Examples include height-adjustable conveyor belts and an articulated arm cobot for assembly workstations, a trailer for transporting materials or a shelf with light signals for more productive order picking.

The new robot can also be used outdoors. "igus itself is already using the ReBeLMove Pro as a shuttle to transport products away from injection-moulding machines in production," says Sebastian Thorwarth-Kienbaum, Expert for Low Cost Automation at igus. "These are tedious, routine tasks in material handling that companies find difficult to get people excited about." Within just two months, for example, a fully automated container transport system including interface integration was realised in igus's production, from conception to implementation. It transports ball bearing components from the injection-moulding machine to the fully automatic assembly machine without human intervention.

Return on investment after just 12 months

However, companies not only save costs when purchasing the AMR, but also during commissioning and operation. "System integrators and software licences often cause high follow-up costs, which lead to companies putting the topic of automation on ice again in frustration," says Thorwarth-Kienbaum. "We have therefore made a point of ensuring that the ReBeLMove Pro can be integrated and operated without outside help or automation experience." During a simple round trip, the robot automatically creates a 3D digital map of the room. It uses LIDAR sensors, 3D sensors and a RealSense camera and can map a 200square-metre room in just under three minutes. The robot can then move autonomously without the need for complex guidelines or tracks on the floor. Programming is also quick and intuitive: users can create movements with software in just 15 minutes and without any programming knowledge.

Integration into existing IT landscapes with open interfaces such as IoT, VDA 5050, REST, SAP or ERP is just as straightforward. The ReBeLMove Pro is also compatible with external fleet management solutions such as Fleetexecuter, Kinexon or Naise. "Thanks to the low investment costs and uncomplicated commissioning and operation, the average return on investment for a ReBeLMove Pro is twelve months. The ReBeLMove Pro costs only €38,900, i.e. around 25 per cent less than standard market solutions, which generally start at €50,000 - without compromising on functionality," summarises Thorwarth-Kienbaum.