Cranes, Robots, and Humans Working Together – Factory Demonstration Marks a New Era

The Mixed Fleet research project accelerates the adoption of automation.

At Konecranes' Hyvinkää factory, overhead cranes and AGVs transport materials in seamless coordination. At the same time, people and the Spot robot dog work safely alongside them. The demonstration, jointly executed by Konecranes, Navitec Systems, and VTT, offers a glimpse into the factories of the future, where different machines and humans collaborate effortlessly. The demonstration is part of the FIMA-coordinated Mixed Fleet research project, which accelerates automation adoption and enhances productivity by improving machine-human collaboration.

“In the factories of the future, we are moving towards more meaningful and engaging work, as the role of workers shifts from equipment operators to problem solvers. We are interested in the collaboration of humans and equipment, and how this synergy can enhance the efficiency of factories”, says Markku Häivälä, R&I Director, Konecranes.

The solution showcases fleet management connecting a wide range of machines, machine-to-machine (M2M) collaboration, and advanced situational awareness. The technical setup integrates multiple positioning methods, a fleet management system, and a 3D metaverse visualization tool, enabling the optimization of mixed fleet traffic, material flows, and safety. The ultimate goal is to boost productivity and speed up automation adoption in industrial environments.

Universal Fleet Interface

Navitec Systems, a provider of navigation, vehicle control, and fleet management software and services, has developed new capabilities during the project allowing the monitoring of any third-party vehicles, devices, or personnel in the same universal interface alongside AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots) and AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles). These external devices can include, for example, bridge cranes, forklifts, or people working in the same environment alongside the automated vehicles. Some of these vehicles or other entities can also be either directly controlled or indirectly guided using the fleet control software.

"Bringing all different types of vehicles and other equipment into a single view enables their consideration in the traffic control and route planning of automated vehicles. It also allows predicting the movements of all these different entities, significantly improving the safety of the operating environment. In addition, as a new feature, sensor and camera data from any type of vehicle can now be displayed within the same fleet management platform," says Oskari Ålander, Team Leader of Fleet Control at Navitec Systems.

Towards smarter material flow

The Mixed Fleet project is related to material handling solutions provider Konecranes' Zero4 program, which focuses on digitizing material flow management. 

The project's corporate partners include for example Atostek, Exertus, Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe and Navitec Systems. Research institutions involved in the project are the Tampere University and VTT. The ten-million-euro, three-year joint project is funded by Business Finland, companies, FIMA and research institutions. The project has been prepared based on shared future visions of member companies of FIMA and the DIMECC-led VAMOS ecosystem for Autonomous Mobility and Smart Spaces.