BlueBotics launches ANTdriven.com to help professionals start their AGV journeys
Autonomous navigation leader BlueBotics, which was recently acquired by ZAPI GROUP, has launched ANTdriven.com. This new educational resource enables warehouse, factory, and supply chain decision makers to learn about and explore a wide range of different automated vehicle technologies from across the ANT® navigation ecosystem.
In today’s challenging business landscape, staff such as warehouse and factory managers are increasingly turning to automation to ensure the ongoing competitiveness and resilience of their businesses. Whether these projects concern the automation of an entire plant or specific mobile processes, organizations often face similar hurdles to adoption.
“Much of the time, a buyer’s first dilemma is simply where to start,” explains BlueBotics CEO Dr. Nicola Tomatis. “In the case of automating transport processes with vehicles like AGVs, automated forklifts, and AMRs, first it is important to learn about these technologies and how they work. Then, there is the challenge of drawing up a shortlist of potential purchases that are proven to perform accurately and reliably, and which can scale into a larger connected fleet should a company’s needs evolve. Finally, there is the business case to make, which requires solid financial projections based on usable real-world data.”
BlueBotics developed ANTdriven.com to help potential buyers overcome these challenges and find the best-fit automated vehicles for their business. The platform provides clear and helpful educational content, useful tools, and even the offer of free expert consultancy.
The site features a wide range of content to suit every visitor, no matter where they are on their AGV journey:
- Learn: ANTdriven.com provides a detailed introduction to AGV, AMR, and automated forklift technologies. Detailed webpages and downloadable guides explain how such solutions work, how to calculate the potential ROI automated vehicles can offer, and what to consider when buying them.
- Explore: ANTdriven.com features two key tools: a fully-featured ROI Calculator and a Vehicle Finder. This database of AGV options brings together the full ecosystem of vehicles driven by BlueBotics’ industry-proven ANT® navigation technology (over 90 models to date with more to come). These products span numerous vehicle types and brands — from small, agile AMRs to numerous pallet movers and multi-ton transport shuttles.
The benefits of choosing vehicles driven by ANT® include:
Robustness
ANT® driven vehicles are highly reliable, offering repeatable accuracy, each and every time.
Flexibility
Vehicles are quick and simple to install – typically taking days, not weeks to commission – and a vehicle’s operations are easy to modify as a site’s needs evolve.
Scalability
Many ANT® driven vehicles are 100% interoperable, enabling users to create a custom multi-brand fleet that meets their business’ specific needs.
- Connect: ANTdriven.com users can request a free consultation call with a BlueBotics intralogistics expert at any time – enabling them to fast-forward their learning and discuss in-depth the best-fit technologies for their operation.
“Whether someone has been tasked with automating a single set of processes on a single site, or they are a supply chain decision maker in a large enterprise who is looking to deploy one proven automation platform across multiple sites around the world, we believe ANTdriven.com can serve as a valuable starting point for their automation journey,” Tomatis says.
Building the perfect fleet
While numerous automated vehicle suppliers exist today, a common challenge for buyers is that one producer might not offer every type of vehicle a business requires. Even if a producer does offer a range of solutions, an organization might be hesitant to rely on a single supplier for all its automated vehicle needs.
“The obvious way for a buyer to overcome such restrictions is to work with several different vehicle suppliers,” Tomatis adds, “but that brings its own potential issues. Different brand vehicles are often closed systems and cannot work together. They, therefore, require a business to deploy different mission and fleet management software programs, and to plan out different vehicle routes around a site. This approach is obviously complicated, costly, and inefficient. By contrast, many of the vehicles driven by BlueBotics’ ANT® navigation can work together seamlessly in one connected fleet, regardless of the vehicle type or even brand.”
To start your AGV journey, visit https://www.antdriven.com/ Alternatively, you can meet the BlueBotics team and explore a live multi-brand fleet demo at LogiMAT 2022 (Hall 2, booth C19).
The BlueBotics booth will also host a unique multi-brand vehicle demonstration. This will feature several different brands of vehicles, spanning automated guided vehicles (AGV), automated forklifts, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) from across the ANT® navigation ecosystem.
These vehicles will run a small pallet-moving operation, all controlled by one ANT® server software project. Specifically, the fleet will include one automated pallet truck, one automated forklift, one omnidirectional AGV, and three autonomous mobile robots from two different brands.
www.bluebotics.com
