© IFOY Award / impact media projects GmbH
Setting a world record for hybrid fleets with VDA 5050
SYNAOS is an early adopter of VDA 5050 and is unique in its multi-version support for the standard interface. This approach has already proven to be a flexible and reliable foundation for mobile robot fleet control in demanding live environments. We currently use multiple VDA 5050 versions productively in many customer projects and expect to add additional versions in 2023 so as to offer maximum flexibility to both our customers and partners. Neither of them needs to update the VDA 5050 version of their existing fleet in the event of adding vehicles running on a later version.
During the 2022 AGV Mesh-up at the IFOY AWARD event – held by the German Engineering Association VDMA – we showcased our Intralogistics Management Platform as a central control station and managed to successfully steer AGVs and AMRs of seven different manufacturers simultaneously. This was something that had never been done before. We are delighted to have set this new world record in collaboration with our mobile robot partners.
We think it is paramount to be able to connect our enterprise software with mobile robots from a wide range of manufacturers, thus achieving interoperability. We have also been actively involved in the design and further development of the VDA 5050 interface specification thanks to our significant practical project expertise.
We are not in the lab anymore.
Largest Customer Fleet
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Mobile robot customers will suffer from a lack of interface standardization
The first versions of VDA 5050 were intentionally not designed with a focus on AMRs but rather on AGVs. Consolidating centralized and decentralized solutions goes along with cutting down on the AMRs’ respective USPs in order to deliver value for the customer.
VDA 5050 is by no means a perfect solution for Robotics-Land – yet. Though, while its adoption rate is relatively low – probably less than 10% of all vendors currently support the VDA 5050 interface –, we believe in it. We expect that VDA 5050 will continue to evolve in a comprehensive way, capable of fully integrating AMRs as well. At this stage, it is unclear whether VDA 5050 will emerge as the standard for mobile robots. However, we are convinced that it would be beneficial for all market participants to converge on a standard. As long as no one standard has been fundamentally established on a global scale, mobile robot customers will need to adapt to multiple different interfaces and pay the price for the lack of supplier alignment. Project announcements and tenders indicate that the VDA 5050 is actively requested by customers not only in Germany but across Europe and beyond. Interestingly, this development is not only limited to automotive (for which the interface was originally conceived) but also present in a variety of industries.
