Several investors are putting money into Dutch Accerion. This Venlo-based company develops technology that can automate industrial vehicles such as forklifts and logistics mobile robots. Among others, Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures and the agency of the province of Limburg LIOF are investing in Accerion. The amounts involved are not known; financial details of the investment round have not been disclosed.
Accerion is developing positioning technology that allows existing industrial vehicles to operate fully autonomously. This is attractive to companies, allowing them to have autonomous vehicles while continuing to benefit from their existing investments in vehicles.
Jupiter
The Venlo-based company has developed two sensor modules. The company's flagship is Jupiter, a product that enables vehicles to accurately determine its position in an industrial environment. Jupiter independently finds its way by looking at the ground, without the need for special infrastructure.
Vehicles equipped with Jupiter can move at a speed of 2 m/s. The sensor module can be used both indoors and outdoors. The module weighs 2.4 kg and measures 340 by 120 by 120 mm. Using Jupiter, vehicles can cover an area of up to 40,000 m2. However, if required, the system can be made suitable for larger areas of up to 100,000 m2 upon request.
Jupiter can operate in two modes: Relative Mode and Absolute Mode. In Relative Mode, Jupiter searches its way independently, looking at where the vehicle came from and what path it has taken. An accuracy of more than 99.8% is achieved in this mode. In Absolute Mode, it is possible to have vehicles recognise the floor through recognition of the (natural) surface without additional markings, for which Jupiter can determine its position with sub-mm accuracy.
Triton
In addition to Jupiter, Accerion also supplies Triton, Jupiter's little brother. Triton is designed to enable accurate positioning in a small form factor. Like Jupiter, Triton maps its surroundings and can be used for navigation without the need for special infrastructure.
Triton is both smaller and lighter than Jupiter, measuring 120 x 108 x 50mm and weighing just 0.6kg. The product is aimed at use in smaller vehicles, such as light industrial vehicles and smaller Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), or for vehicles that already use relative odometry.
Like Jupiter, Triton offers the ability to determine its position with sub-mm accuracy on surfaces up to 40,000 m2. However, this sensor module does not support Relative Mode, which is available on Jupiter. Triton was presented to the public in February. In March, Accerion announced proof-of-concept projects with a select number of customers, where the product has been successfully implemented. Since then, the manufacturer reports having already received orders for several hundred units.
Getting to work faster
Before Jupiter and Triton can be used in the navigation package, the floor has to be taught in to the sensors. To speed up this process, Accerion has developed the Scout robot. This robot is equipped with a Jupiter and a lidar sensor. Using this equipment, the Scout robot maps the environment and combines the Lidar images with the floor data. The information gathered in the process can then be used as a starting point for other Jupiter or Triton modules, which thereby take less time to learn their routes. This is attractive, among other things, for customers looking to implement a large number of Jupiter or Triton modules.
More information is available on Accerion's website.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Accerion
