SOTO

A mobile robot that revs up indus­trial pro­duc­tion: SOTO enables effi­cient auto­mated line feed­ing, for exam­ple in the auto­mo­tive industry. 

moreTechnology

Fac­tory 4.0 becomes a great deal more real: SOTO  brings mate­ri­als to the assem­bly line, just-in-time and com­pletely autonomously. Now with even more trans­port capac­ity, omni­di­rec­tional drive and improved handling.

Advantages

Eco­nom­i­cal

SOTO helps to keep inven­tory lev­els low and deliv­ers replen­ish­ment exactly when it is needed. It works up to 20 hours per day – for processes that are not only more effi­cient but also sig­nif­i­cantly cheaper. 

Ground­break­ing

The intel­li­gent robot SOTO inte­grates seam­lessly into the Fac­tory 4.0. It can be flex­i­bly con­fig­ured, relieves the employ­ees and works safely and effi­ciently along­side machines, vehi­cles and peo­ple – for opti­mum pro­duc­tion planning.

Intel­li­gent

Pro­duc­tion logis­tics becomes smart: with sen­sors, 3D cam­eras and the intel­li­gent ACROS​.AI oper­at­ing sys­tem, SOTO can per­ceive its envi­ron­ment, react intel­li­gently to changes and even learn from experience.

Skills

The autonomous sup­ply chain robot SOTO is ideal for indus­trial and pro­duc­tion processes. Thanks to its intel­li­gent soft­ware, it can react flex­i­bly to chang­ing require­ments, com­pletely replace pick carts and tug­ger trains, or inter­act use­fully with them. It deals with an increas­ing num­ber of prod­ucts using a clever grip­per sys­tem that can han­dle dif­fer­ent totes in dif­fer­ent posi­tions and heights. These are its most impor­tant tech­no­log­i­cal fea­tures at a glance:

Handling totes - with even more variety

SOTO can grasp classic small load carriers with a weight of up to 20 kg and a maximum size of 600 x 400 x 320 mm (L x W x H). The pickup and put down from the robot can be done to the right, left or to the front.

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The most flexible gripper

The rotating gripper from SOTO allows to turn small load carriers of different sizes by 90° or 180° - inside the robot. This means for example, full totes can be put down into a shelf on the long side and empties can be picked up again on the short side. The gripper is also flexible in terms of height: the transfer takes place at heights between 35 cm and 170 cm above ground.

More transport capacity

Depending on their size, SOTO can store between 8 and 24 totes in its backpack at once. By storing up to two totes behind each other, SOTO utilizes the existing storage space most efficient.

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Omnidirectional drive base

SOTO can steer its four drive wheels individually and therefore drive in any direction without cornering. Precise maneuvering is possible even in the tightest of spaces. This enables the robot for example, to "dock" to the side of a shelf without prior maneuvering.

Safe navigation

Certified laser scanners at the front and rear enable SOTO to navigate freely at up to 2 m/s. They also guarantee safe operation parallel to people and vehicles. Depending on how close an obstacle comes, SOTO reduces its speed until it stops or looks for an alternative route.

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Transfer systems

Flow rack

Flow rack

SOTO places totes into an adapted flow rack from one side, a per­son removes them from the other side. 

Conveyor belt

Conveyor belt

The con­veyor belt acts as an inter­face between SOTO and exist­ing automa­tion infrastructure.

Tugger train

Tugger train

SOTO can load or unload tug­ger trains to allow effi­cient mate­r­ial flow.

Shelf rack

Shelf rack

SOTO can take totes out of shelf racks, or place them in, allow­ing peo­ple to take over.