Robot SOTO from Magazino Automates Material Supply at MAN

The robotics company Magazino wins MAN as a customer for a pilot project with the robot SOTO. The mobile robot SOTO automates the material supply between the warehouse and the assembly line, transporting small load carriers completely autonomously. The pilot operation started at the Nuremberg site in the engine manufacturing for commercial vehicles and offers both sides the opportunity to gain experience with the robot for live operation.

(Munich) In recent years, there has already been a close development partnership between MAN and Magazino. Among other things, the prototype of the robot and the gripping mechanism for different small load carriers (KLT) were tested. The pilot project is designed for about a year and lays the foundation for the implementation of a whole fleet of SOTO robots starting in 2023.

Dr. Ingo Essel, plant manager in Nuremberg, says: “We want to set up our logistics efficiently and effectively for the future and utilize the potentials of digitization and automation. With the help of SOTO, the entire supply process from depalletizing in the automated small parts warehouse to provision in assembly can be fully automated. We are thus advancing the topic of ‘Advanced Robotics’ and building a smart supply chain in the interplay of humans and robots. We are pleased to have found a partner in Magazino who can optimally meet our high demands for automation in plant logistics and provide a flexible and scalable automation concept.”

Up to 18 containers simultaneously

Paul Seluga, project manager from Magazino for the joint project with MAN, describes the target process as follows: “The robot SOTO takes the KLT from the retrieval point of the automated small parts warehouse and brings up to 18 containers simultaneously via five different supply routes to the individual production lines. There, the SOTO robots deposit the containers weighing up to 20 kilograms in different inclined shelf racks. On the back, the worker can then conveniently access the individual parts for assembly. The SOTO robots can also autonomously pick up empty containers and bring them to the central collection point.”

Gripper automatically adapts to container size

At the plant in Nuremberg, all common VDA container formats up to a size of 600mm x 400mm x 280mm are used. The adaptive gripper of the robot automatically adjusts to the corresponding container size and also flexibly approaches the different heights of the transfer shelves. Machine-readable codes on the shelves and barcode labels on the containers assist the robot in identification. The individual transport orders will in the future be sourced directly from the warehouse management system by the robot.

While assembly lines in the manufacturing industry today are highly automated, the supply of replenishment still predominantly occurs manually. Previous solutions such as tugger trains or simple automated guided vehicles (AGVs) do not fully automate the process, as manual work is still required during loading or unloading.

Collecting empty containers

The robot SOTO combines these fundamental logistical process steps into a single, fully autonomous solution: the pickup of differently sized KLT from a warehouse, the autonomous transport of multiple KLT from source to sink, and the delivery to line-side flow racks at different heights. The collection of empty containers as well as the rotation of small load carriers by 90° to 180° are also among its capabilities. The combination of these abilities clearly distinguishes the robot SOTO from the market environment and enables true end-to-end automation in material supply for the first time.

Photo: © Magazino