The market for automated guided vehicles (AGV) and autonomous mobile robots (AMR) is booming: the global market for mobile robotics, including service robotics, is currently worth around 20.3 billion US dollars, and experts expect this figure to almost double by 2028. Mobile robots are particularly widespread in intralogistics and industrial applications, and these smart helpers are also increasingly making their rounds in the hospitality industry and hospitals.

Igus has been testing AGVs in-house for four years - driverless shelves that deliver mail and deliveries to offices as well as mobile robots in production that move transports and rotary stacking containers. The experience gained flows directly into the development of a new low-cost automation product line, 'ReBeL on Wheels'. The aim is to pave the way for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into low-cost mobile robotics.

The basis of any mobile robotics system is the 'ReBeL'. The use of plastic makes this robot particularly affordable at EUR 4,970 and, according to the manufacturer, the lightest service robot with cobot function in its class at 8.2 kg. All of the mechanical components that make up the Cobot are developed and manufactured by Igus. Its payload is 2 kg and its reach is 664 mm. Various moving systems are planned in which the ReBeL is centrally integrated: the first is a variant for the education sector: the 'ReBeL EduMove' equipped with a gripper serves as an autonomous learning platform for educational institutions thanks to open source. It has a modular design and can be flexibly expanded with additional functions such as lidar, camera technology or a slam algorithm.

The service robot 'ReBeL Butler' at the Hannover Messe

© Computers&Automation

Another variant is an automated guided vehicle system for SMEs that can transport up to 30 kg. With the optional ReBeL, simple A to B positioning can be carried out. It dispenses with expensive sensor technology and instead relies on 3D sensor technology developed in-house. In Hanover, Igus also presented the study of a service robot: the 'ReBeL Butler' is suitable for simple but time-consuming pick-up and delivery services, for example in the hotel and catering industry.

The goal of all these developments is the lighthouse project, a mobile robot with integrated HMI and vision that could tidy up an office on its own. "With this project, we are pursuing a bottom-to-top strategy in which certain components such as safety laser scanners are not included in the basic package in order to keep the price low," explains Alexander Mühlens, authorized signatory and head of the Low-Cost Automation division at Igus. "Nevertheless, it is ensured that the solution can be retrofitted for industrial requirements." Alexander Mühlens: "The areas of application for this targeted low-cost AMR are extremely diverse and go far beyond simple transportation tasks. They cover a huge range of applications in different areas of life, such as cleaning tasks or serving coffee directly at the workplace."