Swisslog at CeMAT & HMI: Smart Logistics combines Virtual with Reality
28 March 2018
Buchs/Hanover, March/April, 2018 – Swisslog and parent company KUKA team up at CeMAT/Hannover Messe, taking place 23–27 April 2018. The KUKA booth in Hall 17/Booth G04 will focus on the Smart Factory of the future, featuring cyberphysical systems, human-robot collaborations, and augmented reality applications.
Smart Logistics in a Smart Factory: Visitors to the Hannover Messe, which is being held in tandem with CeMAT, can experience Swisslog and KUKA’s smart intralogistics solutions such as cyberphysical systems that combine warehouse automation with robotics, human-machine collaborations as well as augmented reality applications., Swisslog and KUKA will together present innovative technologies that combine the virtual world with human and machine reality under the slogan “iintelligence 4.0_beyond automation”, highlighting Industry 4.0 applications. Digital scenarios of the future and simulations are designed to make logistics planning easier; data-driven solutions will make logistics workflows more efficient; and robots and machines will make storage and picking tasks noticeably easier for logistics employees.
The CarryPick system and its new KMP600 mobile vehicle are at the heart of the exhibited solution, which was co-developed by KUKA and Swisslog. In this automated mobile storage and picking solution, robots navigate underneath warehouse racks, lift them, and autonomously transport them to and from the picking workstations. CarryPick organizes every warehouse movement fully automatically. Following a goods-to-person principle, logistics employees receive differentiated products at ergonomically designed workstations.
The CarryPick system is just one component of the Smart Factory exhibit on the KUKA booth. To better understand the combination of manual handling at the workstation with picking by a robot – in other words, human-machine collaboration – trade fair visitors are introduced to LBR iiwa. This sensitive, lightweight robot from KUKA can work hand in hand with a human operator without any safety fence. LBR iiwa is a collaborative robot, or “cobot,” which unlike a traditional industrial robot has no fixed work routines in a cordoned-off area, but interacts directly and flexibly with employees.
Exploring the warehouse of the future
On the booth, Swisslog invites visitors to journey into the future where the lines between physical and virtual reality are increasingly blurred. Robotics systems meet innovative software services. Big data and AI technologies pave the way for the self-learning warehouse where the flow of goods optimizes itself based on the experiences of the system components. Thanks to augmented reality, Swisslog visitors at Hannover Messe, which is being held in tandem with CeMAT, can experience applications for maintenance and servicing. In these solutions, a technician located in a warehouse contacts a maintenance expert in a remote service center via instant messaging. The remote technician displays the local employee's visual impressions in real time. They see exactly the same view and can therefore provide additional information, both written and spoken, for fast and successful repair or servicing.
Join us in Hannover and explore for yourself! Please visit www.swisslog.com for complimentary ticket information.
About Swisslog
Swisslog designs, develops and delivers best-in-class automation solutions for forward-thinking hospitals, warehouses and distribution centers. We offer integrated systems and services from a single source – from consulting to design, implementation and lifetime customer service. Behind the company’s success are 2 500 employees worldwide, supporting customers in more than 50 countries.
Swisslog is part of the KUKA group, a leading global supplier of intelligent automation solutions.