Essential capabilities and workflows for heavy-duty material movement in compact spaces

Amid the global labor shortage and growing concerns over forklift safety, OTTO Motors is thrilled to introduce our latest autonomous mobile robot (AMR), OTTO 1200. Designed to move heavy payloads up to 1,200 kg (2,640 lb) at a best-in-class average speed, OTTO 1200 is a heavy-duty AMR with unparalleled throughput capabilities. Keep reading to learn about the workflows that can be automated as well as the key capabilities of this high throughput AMR.

5 essential capabilities for heavy-duty material transport

To achieve greater uptime, higher productivity, and improved safety, OTTO 1200 comes equipped with five essential capabilities:

1. Narrow build to move more material in tight spaces

Built with a compact width of 910 mm (36 inches) and the industry’s smartest autonomous software, OTTO 1200 is designed to navigate narrow aisles, helping you save valuable floor space in your facility while maximizing speed.

OTTO 1200’s optimized fieldsets are key to understanding how the AMR navigates in space-constrained facilities. A "fieldset'' is a set of programmed parameters within the LiDAR system that outline safe stopping boundaries for the robot. If the robot identifies an object entering its fieldset, our PL-d rated hardware and extensive testing ensures the robot comes to a controlled, safe stop. Our robots gauge their ability to navigate a location by comparing their fieldsets to the available space and subsequently planning safe and efficient paths to their destination.

Efficient fieldsets allow OTTO 1200 to easily integrate into smaller, space-constrained brownfield facilities. It can traverse narrow aisles with ease, enabling manufacturers to convert one-way aisles into two-way aisles and dock with a variety of endpoints, even those with small widths.

2. High performance safety for improved productivity 

In factory environments, AMRs encounter turns, corners, people, and obstacles on each route and rarely drive in straight, empty aisles. Since AMRs must slow down in these tight corridors, around corners, and near people to remain safe, it’s the robot’s average speed that is critical, not its top speed.

OTTO 1200 utilizes a patented technology called adaptive fieldsets to optimize its average speed, without compromising on safety. Adaptive fieldsets work like adaptive headlights on a performance car. The fieldsets shift and extend out in the direction the robot is turning so that the robot gets improved visibility in the direction of travel and doesn’t trigger stops based on objects the robot is actively turning away from.

The improved visibility allows OTTO 1200 to prevent unnecessary stops or slowdowns at intersections and around people, obstacles, and turns, ensuring sustained productivity and a higher average speed without compromise to safety.

3. Easy-to-access service drawers for maximum uptime

OTTO 1200 has been purposefully designed with a service-first approach, equipped with two rapid-access service drawers on its front and back sides. These drawers can be easily pulled out to access most of the robot’s components for quick and easy maintenance when required, without the need to remove attachments or payloads, reducing downtime for planned and unplanned service events. Ease of access coupled with lightweight components enable a single person to service most areas of OTTO 1200, lowering labor and maintenance costs.

4. Rugged build for sustained durability

Just like the other members of the AMR Dream Team, OTTO 1200 is designed to perform in the world’s toughest manufacturing facilities year after year. The AMR is built with a rugged, all-metal body for harsh factory environments that can continue to perform even after being hit by other industrial equipment. OTTO 1200 also features industrial grade components that have a longer design life, withstanding minor damages and thus requiring less repair.

In addition to its robust construction, OTTO 1200 is equipped with a rocker suspension that reduces shocks to the vehicle and internal components, extending the mean time between failures, resulting in lower maintenance costs.

5. Smoother, quieter driving for enhanced reliability

Equipped with an advanced drivetrain, OTTO 1200 drives quickly and quietly through challenging environments. The polyurethane wheels enable smooth and efficient movements, all powered by a drivetrain that is strong enough to control 1,200 kg safely, yet small enough to move in tight aisles. The improved design is aimed at minimizing vibration while driving, reducing wear-and-tear to the robot. This leads to decreased breakdowns, increasing the overall reliability and lifespan of the AMR.

OTTO 1200 unlocks key workflows to eliminate material handling inefficiencies

Whether you need to move heavy payloads on pallets, racks, or bins, OTTO 1200 is equipped with the hardware and software to unlock a variety of material handling workflows. The compact AMR can connect to other automation equipment in your facility using compatible attachments, including palletizers, ASRS, and wrapping machines, to enable facility-scale automation and deliver compounding benefits.

Two of the top workflows OTTO 1200 can automate are finished goods takeaway and lineside delivery:

• Finished goods takeaway

With the ability to move heavy payloads in compact aisles, OTTO 1200 is highly suited to move palletized or non-palletized finished goods to inspection, packaging, storage or outbound.

• Lineside delivery

OTTO 1200 swiftly moves large payloads on pallets and bins from inbound or storage to near your production line or at the point of use on the line.

OTTO 1200 is well-suited for countless other applications such as palletizer to stretch wrapper to storage, inbound to storage, cross dock transport, and work-in-progress transport from station to station, to name a few.

Most manufacturers are looking for heavy-duty AMRs that are powerful enough to move heavy payloads and maneuverable to navigate narrow aisles and crowded environments, while safely working alongside their people and existing equipment. OTTO 1200 adds a compact, heavy-duty platform that can reliably deliver high throughput, even in the tightest spaces of your facility. To learn more about OTTO 1200 and the unique features of our newest AMR, register for our webinar on Tuesday, October 3rd at 1:00 p.m. EDT.