ANTS4.0
Biologization of technology.
Your Contact Person
Kai Przybysz-Herz
NAiSE GmbH
ANTS4.0
Use the organizational ability of ant colonies
ANTS4.0 analyses the transfer of the organizational capability of ant colonies to the internal transport of goods in manufacturing companies and demonstrates the possibilities using a real factory environment.
About the Project
The ever faster changing requirements of customers mean that intralogistics must become much more flexible. Current solutions are often complex and lack flexibility. For this reason, we are developing a versatile, automated and easily adaptable solution with driverless transport vehicles.
Adaptive intralogistics with low-cost Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) through the implementation of ant colony algorithms
The ANTS 4.0 research project is working on a new type of logistics concept that can respond flexibly to changes in production. The interaction of NAiSE Traffic-Control, the intelligent path planning algorithm from the Institute of Ergonomics and Technology Management at the University of Stuttgart, the low-cost AGV (Scooty) from the Institute of Materials Handling and Logistics (IFT) at the University of Stuttgart, and the intelligent floor from Bosch Rexroth provide the solution.
The aim is to develop an innovative and efficient logistics concept from these components. To this end, the transport orders are first collected in the order management system. Once the AI algorithm has calculated the optimum route, the route is transmitted to the intelligent floor. This shows the route sections in color using the integrated LED strips. The Scooty uses a camera to orient itself to the illuminated LED strips and thus transports the goods to their destination. If the NAiSE indoor localization system or the intelligent floor detects an obstacle on the route, it is recalculated. This avoids unnecessary waiting times on the transport route.
The system will be set up on a 200 m² demonstrator area in the ARENA2036. At the same time, the Sonthofen Technology Transfer Center is carrying out a simulation that will transfer the system to a much larger area and thus evaluate its benefits in real production halls.
Motivation and goals
The "Biologization of Technology" funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims to use processes from nature as models for production processes.
In the ANTS 4.0 research project, the behavior of an ant colony serves as the basis for the behavior of the Scooty vehicles on the Smart Floor. The goal of ANTS 4.0 is to use the ants’ organizational abilities as a model for the production environment and to create a self-organizing logistics system. The production environment will be completely configurable, as workstations are powered wirelessly. Traffic control flexibly adapts to the current environment at any time and adjusts route planning accordingly.
Using the results from the project, intralogistics employees will be relieved of monotonous and physically demanding tasks and will be able to focus on value-added activities. At the same time, cost savings can be achieved with AGVs by having the floor take over key control tasks. We are using simulations to determine the extent of these savings by comparing the two systems.
The combination of versatile production, low-cost vehicles and dynamic route planning in real time demonstrates a new concept for intralogistics with the aim of increasing efficiency and saving space.
Cooperation in the project
We work together as part of a consortium, consisting of the IAT and IFT at the University of Stuttgart, the startup NAiSE, the Sonthofen Technology Transfer Center, and the Bosch Rexroth AG. Our goal is to jointly develop a demonstrator in the ARENA2036, where we can demonstrate our innovative system demonstrate and evaluate our innovative system.
The transport vehicle
Scooty is a concept study by the IFT for cost-effective and small-scale AGVs with a movable chassis. In the Low-costsegment for KLTtransport (600 x 400 mm) are such landing gear with superior maneuverability are still not very common. The vehicle body uses very compact drive-and-steering modules that can be in terms of both number and footprint and can therefore be ideally adapted to the Intelligent Ground.
The intelligent floor
The Smart Floor is a development by Bosch Rexroth in the field of “Factory of the Future”. In the vision of the factory of the future, only the walls and ceilings are fixed. Everything else is movable. The Smart floor is a flexiblesystem that can at any time be adaptedat any time. The energy for the machines is transmitted contactlessly, piezoelectric sensors detect people and vehicles and forward the information to the traffic control system. LED light strips display driving and walking routes that can be adjusted at any time.