Building a better robot with 5G capability
Waterloo’s OTTO Motors provides autonomous mobile robots for material handling inside manufacturing facilities and warehouses. OTTO is trusted for mission-critical deliveries in the most demanding of industrial environments and its customers include some of the world’s most recognized brands, including GE and Toyota.
OTTO Motors had a successful formula, but they knew they could do more. They saw the inherent benefits 5G can provide — higher reliability of communications than wifi, lower latency and higher throughput. The company recognized that by utilizing 5G capabilities there was a potential to improve safety, reliability, and performance of their materials handling robots. But this new protocol would require new hardware, infrastructure and testing to get it working.
By participating in the ENCQOR 5G program, and utilizing the 5G testbed at Communitech, OTTO Motors gained access to 5G modem equipment and test infrastructure which allowed for testing and final validation of their project. The program’s shared funding opportunity also de-risked and accelerated the project, providing OTTO Motors with a first-mover advantage over their competition. The project had the added benefit of connecting the company to Ericsson, a global 5G leader.
It is an exciting time for OTTO Motors. Manufacturers are increasingly using Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) platforms for modernization and transformation of their material handling to decrease non-productive tasks for humans, improve safety, and increase productivity.
For OTTO Motors, that means not only delivering industrial-strength robots that can carry and transport goods autonomously within a warehouse but also the underlying software and automation technology that enables them to safely take on the most dangerous and difficult jobs at enterprise scale.
“On the product side, this year, we are releasing new robots including an automated forklift so that our customers have access to the most comprehensive fleet on the market today. We’re also continually releasing new software that enables our customers to use up to one hundred robots working in concert safety, reliably, and efficiently to transform their business.” — Jay Judkowitz, VP of Product, OTTO Motors
With increasing demand, OTTO Motors will continue to expand globally while offering support locally due to their partner network around the world.
