Mobile robots have evolved to the point that there is very little differentiation to be found in the configuration of drivetrain, sensors and electronics. The basic components that make up a mobile robot base are similar for most AMRs now.

As the market matures, there is little incentive or need for a new mobile robotic vendor to innovate in base design nor build any of these basic components themselves. As a result, a sub-market of AMR component suppliers have emerged to fill this niche.

What is important to a new AMR vendor is time-to-market. The faster a new company can build, test and validate a new AMR solution, the more successful that solution is likely to become.

The AMR component market has reached a critical mass with 400+ AMR companies and 1100+ AMR vehicles, and it’s now feasible for the emergence of individual component suppliers to optimize component designs and reduce component costs through volume sales.

One of those component suppliers is Avular, and it recently released a new “Essentials” product line of core components. Avular wants to be the brains of the AMR.

Using The Essentials, entrepreneurs and engineers now have a modular platform to give their mobile robotics development a head start and severely reduce their time-to-market and costs by up to 50%. These building blocks work as the brain of any (mobile) robot; they read sensor data and control the motors, navigation and positioning systems. Communication systems such as WiFi and 5G modems can link the robot to the cloud, and safety systems for safe movement in dynamic environments are incorporated.

Building mobile robots is no longer rocket science

Mobile robots help solve the world’s toughest challenges for sustainable agriculture, affordable health care and safe work environments. However, the hyperbole in the above video from Avular is that designing and building an autonomous mobile robot is hard. It isn’t.

To understand just how easy it is to build a mobile robot these days, you don’t have to look any further than the millions of middle-school and high-school competitive robotic students who design and build new autonomous mobile robots every year. What makes it simple for these students is that a number of component suppliers have emerged to deliver the basic sensor interfaces, robot control boards and drive systems.

Now Avular is doing the same thing, only for commercial mobile robots.

The Essential product line is an innovative solution of modular hardware and software building blocks that cover these core functionalities.  As a result, a new AMR startup can drastically reduce time-to-market and costs.

There are three different tiers of the Essential solution:

1. Exploration

The Exploration Prime is perfect for cost-saving prototyping. It has an interchangeable bridge for its connectors, so you can choose what type of connectors are most suitable for your application. Use the Exploration components to design and build your prototype AMR platform on a budget.

2. Industrial

The Industrial Prime is ideal when developing a new industrial application and its waterproofness makes it crucial for outdoor applications. Its high-end connectors are reliable, robust and waterproof. All Industrial expansion modules are waterproof.

3. Rugged

The Rugged Prime is recommended for high-end applications and built with the strongest, most robust components available. The push-pull connectors ensure that it can also be used in applications that require a high number of mating cycles.

Avular is aiming to make mobile robotics accessible to everyone with The Essentials. Its products are well-suited for both rapid prototyping as well as industrialization and mass-production. The Essentials product portfolio will keep growing and will thus offer an extensive advantage and innumerable opportunities to customers who too want to join the world of mobile robotics.

Cerebra is a complete software stack

Avular also has a complete controls and software stack that runs on its Essentials hardware. The entire Avular product portfolio works together with Cerebra; an in-house developed software to program and monitor your mobile robotics.

The software package is designed based on Avular’s many years of experience and consists of multiple products, offering a complete solution for companies that want to implement mobile robotics in a straightforward way.

Currently the software stack includes:

Cerebra Studio | an intuitive GUI desktop application to program. configure and tune your Avular Prime.

Cerebra ArtOS | Avular’s own operating system, which forms the bridge between the hardware components and software tools.

“The Prime Essentials can be also used with ROS2 or as a ROS node, and for the high computation units further ROS support is there”, said Avular CEO and co-founder Albert Maas.

The Essentials and Cerebra are now available online.