As fleets of mobile robots grow, so does the demand for software tools to optimize performance and fleet management, noted Mobile Industrial Robots ApS. To meet this demand, the company yesterday launched MiR Insights, a new cloud-based software tool that enables fleet owners to track and analyze the operations of its robots and get actionable insights that can improve their performance.
“MiR Insights provides robot fleet users a much better understanding of the robots' performance and how they interact with their physical environment,” said Walter Vahey, president of MiR. “This knowledge will enable our users to continue to improve and expand their installations more rapidly and further increase their ROI.”
Founded in 2013, Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) offers autonomous mobile roobts (AMRs) to small, midsize, and enterprise customers in industries ranging from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare. The Odense, Denmark-based company now has nearly 220 distributors and certified systems integrators in 60 countries.
Teradyne Inc. acquired MiR in 2019 and combined it with AutoGuide Mobile Robots in 2022. Mobile Industrial Robots has U.S. offices in Holbrook, N.Y.; San Diego; North Reading, Mass.; and Georgetown, Ky.
MiR Insights answers common questions
MiR Insights provides answers to questions such as:
- What was the overall mission effectiveness of my robot fleet this week?
- Do we have any specific areas in our production where our robots encounter recurring challenges?
- How have the changes we implemented on the factory floor last month impacted robot throughput?
In addition, the company said its software allows fleet owners to easily access and share technical data for faster and more efficient troubleshooting. Key features of MiR Insights include:
- Data dashboards: Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as distance driven, completed missions, and robot utilization rate
- Heatmaps: Tracks robot activity over both time and physical locations and visualizes areas with poor Wi-Fi coverage and potential robot traffic bottlenecks.
- Data is stored securely in the cloud
Mobile Industrial Robots in the cloud, at ProMat
Microsoft Azure hosts MiR Insights, which works with MiR Fleet, MiR’s fleet management software. MiR Insights reads data from MiR Fleet but does not interfere with fleet operations or individual robot control, or adjust fleet settings.
“The data interface is very flexible with options for data visualization, as well as an API to port raw data for use in external systems,” claimed Mobile Industrial Robots. It added that MiR Insights is designed “to support a continuous evolution in performance based on customer experience, all focused on improving AMR fleet operations.”
Mobile Industrial Robots is demonstrating MiR Insights at Booth N7525 during ProMat 2023. The materials handling trade show is running at McCormick Place in Chicago from March 20 to 23.
The company said it expects general availability of MiR Insight for its customers in the second quarter of 2023.
Editor's note: For more about ProMat 2023, visit Robotics 24/7's special coverage page.