AMA: How do OTTO AMRs charge?

Implementing an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solution can increase plant efficiency and flexibility across your operation. By safely moving materials and finished goods between workflows and across your plant floor, AMRs keep production running smoothly around the clock.

One of the capabilities that are critical to sustaining this advantage is an intelligent, fast charging method that minimizes downtime. That’s why it’s important to choose an AMR vendor with opportunistic charging capabilities—it keeps your robots ready to work without any manual intervention or scheduling headaches.

What is opportunistic charging?

Opportunistic charging is an intelligent, automated algorithm that keeps your AMRs at optimal charge levels without interrupting production. OTTO Fleet Manager identifies when an AMR is between jobs and autonomously sends it to charge for a few minutes at a time, maintaining the battery within its ideal charge band. This approach maximizes battery life, minimizes charge time, and ensures your AMRs are always ready for the next task.

Video 1: OTTO runs continuously at Mauser Packaged Goods for 13 hours on a single charge.

By charging between tasks rather than waiting for full depletion, opportunistic charging reduces idle time, increases throughput, and lowers average cycle times. If you prefer, you can also initiate manual charging to send a robot to charge at a specific time or location.

Charging speed differs by model, influencing needed fleet size and number of chargers, as well as how your floor space is used. Here are charge times (10% to 90%) for our fleet:

• OTTO 100 (capacity 330 lbs): 18 minutes
• OTTO 600 (capacity 1,320 lbs): 30 minutes
• OTTO 1200 (capacity 2,645 lbs): 30 minutes
• OTTO 1500 (capacity 4,188 lbs): 60 minutes
• OTTO Lifter (capacity 2,645 lbs): 60 minutes

To learn more about what capabilities to look for when evaluating AMR vendors—from traffic management and integrations to service and support options—download our white paper, “8 key considerations when assessing AMR vendors.”