Robots Weblog | Within the quick lane: Cell robots from igus cut back prices for medium-sized companies

“ReBeLs on Wheels” make driverless transport systems affordable using modern plastic technology

Cologne/Hannover, April 24, 2024 – Mobile robotics systems are being used in more and more work areas, in e-commerce warehouses as well as in modern restaurants. Conventional models on the market start at around 25,000 euros, while solutions with an integrated robot arm cost around 70,000 euros. However, widespread use in the market is often unaffordable for small and medium-sized companies due to the high prices. igus wants to change that with new low-cost robotics offerings and is presenting a series of inexpensive mobile plastic robots at the Hannover Messe.

The market for Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) is booming: The global market for mobile robotics, including service robotics, is currently worth around 20.3 billion US dollars, and experts expect it to almost double by 2028.1 Mobile ones are particularly widespread Robots in intralogistics and industrial applications. And even in restaurants or hospitals, smart helpers are increasingly making their rounds. Also at the motion plastics specialist igus: The plastics experts have been successfully testing AGVs in-house for four years – driverless shelves that deliver mail and deliveries to offices as well as mobile robots in production that move transport and rotating stack containers. The experience gained flows directly into the development of a new low-cost automation product line, the “ReBeL on Wheels”. Their goal: to pave the way for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) to use cost-effective mobile robotics.

Mobile ReBeL solutions for education, logistics and service
The basis of any mobile robotics system is the ReBeL. The use of plastic makes the robot particularly affordable at 4,970 euros and, at 8.2 kilograms, the lightest service robot with cobot function in its class. All mechanical components that make up the ReBeL are, without exception, developed and manufactured by igus. Its load capacity is 2 kilograms and it has a reach of 664 millimeters. Various moving systems are planned in which the ReBeL is centrally integrated: igus is starting with an affordable version for the education sector for 14,699 euros – including the robot arm. The one equipped with a gripper ReBeL EduMove Thanks to open source, it serves as an autonomous learning platform for educational institutions. It has a modular structure and can be flexibly expanded to include additional functions such as lidar, camera technology or slam algorithm. Another variant is a driverless transport system for SMEs. It can transport up to 30 kilograms. With the optional ReBeL, simple A to B positioning can be carried out. It does not use expensive sensors and instead relies on its own developed 3D sensor technology. The price is 17,999 euros. In addition, igus is showing a study of a service robot at a low price in Hanover. The ReBeL Butler is suitable for simple but time-consuming pick-up and delivery services, for example in the hotel and catering industry.

A lighthouse project on wheels
The goal of all of these developments is the lighthouse project, a mobile robot with integrated HMI and vision that could even clean an office independently. “With this project, we are pursuing a bottom-to-top strategy in which certain components such as safety laser scanners are not included in the basic package in order to keep the price low,” says Alexander Mühlens, authorized representative and head of the low-cost business area. Automation at igus, clearly. “Nevertheless, it is ensured that the solution can be retrofitted for industrial requirements.” This year, among other things, igus is introducing an affordable gripper with a large stroke and travel path, which offers high flexibility when gripping different geometries. Alexander Mühlens: “The areas of application for this desired low-cost AMR are extremely diverse and go far beyond simple transport tasks. They cover a huge range of applications in different areas of life, such as cleaning tasks or serving coffee directly at the workplace.”