ABB Robotics released Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology, enabling its autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to make intelligent navigation decisions based on their surroundings.
“Our introduction of Visual SLAM AMRs radically enhances companies’ operations, making them faster, more efficient and more flexible, while freeing up employees to take on more rewarding work,” says Marc Segura, president of ABB Robotics Division. “Offering more autonomy and intelligence, our new AMRs operate safely in dynamic, human-populated environments. Visual SLAM technology provides a new level of intelligence for AMRs that transforms robotic applications, from production and distribution through to healthcare.”
From ABB:
- Using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled 3D vision to perform location and mapping functions, ABB’s Visual SLAM AMRs make production faster, more flexible, efficient and resilient.
- Visual SLAM combines AI and 3D vision technologies to offer other benefits such as magnetic tape, QR codes and traditional 2D SLAM that require additional infrastructure to function.
- Visual SLAM uses cameras mounted on the AMR to create a real time 3D map of all objects in the surrounding area. The system can differentiate between fixed navigation references such as floors, ceilings and walls that need to be added to the map, and objects such as people or vehicles that move or change position.
- The cameras detect and track natural features in the environment, enabling the AMR to dynamically adapt to its surroundings and determine the safest and most efficient route to its destination.
