106 Mobile Robots How AGV projects become successful “Expectations of mobile robots are exaggerated” Interview mit Mathias Behounek, Executive director SAFELOG GmbH The hype about mobile transport robots (MTR) continues. The impression is often given that the technology is already in use hundreds of thousands of times. But only a few companies use mobile robots on a large scale. And the number of failed projects is increasing. The reason: exaggerated expectations and too little internal knowledge about the technology. SAFELOG Executive Director Mathias Behounek explains which hurdles the industry still has to overcome. Mr Behounek, where does mobile robotics stand and what are the future prospects for the industry? There is a broad consensus that mobile robotics will continue to grow strongly in the coming years. The market research institute Interact Analysis, for example, predicts that the market for transport robots will grow by up to 40% annually over the next five years despite the currently tense economic situation. This is because a lack of skilled workers and rising production costs are forcing many companies to invest in the automation of their processes. However, the expectations on the performance of mobile transport robots are completely exaggerated. How do you mean that exactly? The pressure on the industry is incredibly high. If you believe the media and some manufacturers, we will see large fleets in almost all intralogistics applications in a short time. The robots are supposed to navigate autonomously, avoid obstacles and have no dependencies. It seems as if they can be integrated into almost any layout without much effort and without having to question existing processes. This impression is wrong and one of the main reasons why projects with mobile robots fail time and again in practice. To be clear: our industry is still at the very beginning. Despite all the forecasts, unit numbers will only increase across the board if we manage to make AGV projects manageable and successful. Like in Factory 56 at Mercedes Benz? There you have put into operation the largest robot fleet in Europe with 500 robots. That's right. Factory 56 was a milestone for us and proof that large AGV fleets can be realised in this highly complex environment if you focus on the essential tasks. But I don't think fully automated factories will be standard in the foreseeable future. But the topic is sexy and therefore goes down well with investors and in the public perception. The further you move away from the shop floor in The performance of mobile robots is often overestimated, finds SAFELOG Executive Director Mathias Behounek. Image: © KNOLL Maschinenbau GmbH
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