[Industry Alpha x Yamanashi Prefecture] Industry Alpha conducts demonstration experiment of AMR using third-party camera

Industry Alpha was selected for the TRY!YAMANASHI! project and is trialing cutting-edge solutions that combine AMR (autonomous mobile robots) and image recognition technology in factories.

Background of this project

Industry Alpha has been contributing to the smartification of manufacturing and logistics industries by utilizing solutions such as AMR (autonomous driving robots) and optimization. As the decline in the working population is a concern throughout Japan, the need for automation in factories and warehouses is increasing day by day. In Yamanashi Prefecture, there are concerns about the future of securing labor for the manufacturing industry, which is a core industry, and this led to the matching of Industry Alpha with Yamanashi Prefecture.

Yamanashi Prefecture is running the “TRY! YAMANASHI! Demonstration Experiment Support Project,” which accompanies start-up companies with cutting-edge technologies and services and provides full support for demonstration experiments throughout the prefecture, and this year marks the sixth year of the project. This time, four companies, including Industry Alpha, were selected from a total of 39 applicants, and will conduct demonstration experiments in Yamanashi Prefecture as a test bed.

Details of the demonstration experiment

The theme of the experiment is “Controlling AMR using a third-party camera,” and the demonstration will be conducted at a factory in Kofu City where AMRs have been installed for some time. Cameras installed in factories and warehouses will detect workers, and AMR behavior will change depending on the presence or absence of workers, achieving safer and more efficient automation.

Safe coexistence with workers is essential for automating transportation using AMRs. AMRs are equipped with sensors that can detect obstacles and respond to obstacles jumping out. However, there are still issues such as blind spots on the other side of walls and pillars, and AMRs and workers running into each other at four-way intersections.

Industry Alpha has developed software that uses cameras and image recognition technology installed on the walls and ceilings of factories and warehouses to check whether there are workers in narrow areas or four-way intersections where there is a risk of AMRs running into workers, and only allows AMRs to enter the area if there are no workers. In this demonstration experiment, this software will be used to verify that safer operations can be implemented by detecting the presence or absence of workers in narrow areas in advance.

Future outlook

One of the biggest features of Industry Alpha’s AMR and FMS (FMS) is connectivity. They link with various devices and systems in factories and warehouses, contributing to comprehensive automation. Linking with cameras is one example, and we will actively utilize information from existing cameras in factories and warehouses. In addition to cameras, we will utilize information from various equipment such as fire alarms, presses, and welding machines to control robots such as AMRs, thereby realizing truly smart factories and smart warehouses.