With this multi-connective gateway we established an integrative AGV solution for our A-MATE® product family that further complies with VDA 5050 standards.
Customers are often faced with the challenge of having to establish additional connections within their AMR systems not only to the Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) itself but also to other components. This includes in particular the connection of components such as higher-level ERP systems, universal fleet managers or peripheral devices such as fire alarm systems or sensors. As each system or device usually uses its own communication language, processing and translating it to other components in the overall system is complex and therefore quite cost-intensive.
Lifting your AGV system to a new level
To support you in this challenge, we are releasing our own multi-connective software A-GATE!
With the help of A-GATE, users have access to the following functionalities, amongst others:
- Interaction with various software components from ERP systems to (universal VDA 5050) fleet managers and any type of peripheral device for monitoring statuses
- Simple and intuitive creation and execution of transport orders
- Centralized maintenance management for the existing A-MATE® fleet
“A-GATE offers our customers an ideal addition to the holistic integration of driverless transport systems by bundling numerous functionalities in an intuitive and user-friendly virtual interface,” adds Aaron Zimmerer, Product Owner AGV / AMR.
A-Gate – system overview
A-GATE is designed in such a way that no additional IT infrastructure in the form of servers or computers is required. The software installation based on “Docker” can therefore be carried out on the same IT infrastructure on which, for example, other software components for the AGV use case are operated. The only prerequisite for successful communication with any components involved in the process is a shared network.
“Communication protocols like REST, TCP/IP or MQTT are supported so that numerous different hardware and software components can communicate reliably via our A-GATE,” explains Sebastian Heger, A-GATE product developer. “This enables our customers to integrate a wide variety of components into the overall system via the A-GATE.”
picture Dashboard A-GATE
We are particularly proud of the simple and intuitive user interface, which provides an overview of all the components in the overall system. In addition, drag-and-drop actions based on input or output signals from components can be created and executed without opening the software of the component involved.
In addition to the access to a central document repository, the user interface is rounded off by a status-overview of the A-MATE® fleet. Not only current information about the present status is displayed, but also information about the next upcoming maintenance and, if desired, can be forwarded directly to the K.Hartwall Support.
“We firmly believe that the use of A-GATE will open up numerous opportunities for our customers to implement more use cases in a holistic, scalable and economical way,” concludes Aaron Zimmerer.
