ABB rebrands autonomous mobile robot range

ABB Australia Pty Ltd

Thursday, 13 October, 2022

ABB rebrands autonomous mobile robot range

ABB has launched its first range of rebranded Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) following its acquisition of mobile robot company ASTI Mobile Robotics in 2021.

“At a time when businesses are looking for a range of robotic solutions to help make them more efficient, flexible and resilient, we are the only company supporting them with our integrated offering of AMRs, robots, and machine automation technologies,” said Marc Segura, President for ABB’s Robotics Division. “This is a game-changer for our customers, they can work with one partner offering everything they need to adapt to the opportunities and challenges driven by individualisation, labour shortages and disrupted supply chains and our rebranding underscores the simplicity and benefit of the integrated solutions we offer to our customers.”

ASTI Mobile Robotics’ solutions are now rebranded and integrated into ABB’s range, grouped under the Flexley name. The first models to be released, Flexley Tug and Flexley Mover, cover applications including towing; trolley transportation up to 2000 kg; and lifting and transporting racks, containers and pallets of 1500 kg.

Building on ASTI’s use of laser scanner-based 2D SLAM navigation, the future ABB autonomous mobile robots will also benefit from the VSLAM technology of Sevensense Robotics — a Swiss startup and one of ABB’s partner companies — that enables mobile robots to navigate complex and dynamic environments.

“The market for autonomous mobile robots is set to grow significantly, with an annual growth rate of approximately 24% between 2021 and 2028¹,” said Verónica Pascual, Global Head of AMR business at ABB Robotics. “The integration of the ASTI AMR range and the creation of our global manufacturing and support network means we are well-placed to address this growth, providing our customers with new ways to tackle their supply chain challenges and meet demands for greater flexibility and speed created by the continued rise in e-commerce.”

Already supplying AMR solutions for customer projects, ABB has worked with strategic partner Expert Technology Group in the UK to deliver a complete assembly line based on AMRs for a technology startup producing products for EV vehicle drive trains. Transporting products between robotic automation cells and manual assembly stations, the automation solution combines the use of ABB robots, vision function packages and AMRs.

The integration of ASTI into ABB includes a complete rebranding of all its offices and facilities, as well as the launch of a website at amr.robotics.abb.com.