Robotics & autonomous operation.

Projects that TOPIC realised within the domain of robotics & autonomous operation:

- AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) redesign
- AMD/Xilinx UAV & Robotics Platform (URP)
- Individual plant handler for automatic transplanting machine

Key technologies and skills: 

Regulatory compliance development, e.g. meeting ISO 3691-4 safety regulation, model-based design with code generation, unmanned vehicle control using ROS (Robotic Operating System), and BalenaOS.

TOPIC contribution and know-how: 

When addressing robotics and autonomous operation, it is all about core functionalities like motion control, complex sensors, and connected/interacting devices. Within TOPIC, we specialize in translating system-level control requirements into embedded systems.

Supported by ISO standards, we design our architecture to enable unmanned vehicle control. Using Simulink and Phyton, we model the complete functional behavior of the system. We develop the entire hierarchy in one system, which includes real-time motor control, safety-certified autopilot, and fleet management in the cloud (for hardware and software).

Central to these developments are safety and security, advanced sensors like Lidar, Radar, and 3D vision, and compliance with various safety regulations. We apply embedded Linux BSP with on-top task-specific packages to implement various functional tasks within a robotic system. This results in a faster development cycle and the re-use of code, making software certification tasks more simple and reducing overall development time for our clients.



AGV redesign:

The redesign of an existing AGV for one of our clients is a great example of how to apply this method. In this case, it was used for transporting containers in warehouses.

The redesign aimed to improve the motor and motion control and to reduce the assembly complexity of the system. Furthermore, it was a key goal to optimize the bill of materials and to ensure that the system met ISO3691-4-regulations.

For the redesign, we implemented a new system based on our Miami MPSoC Plus System-on-Module, combined with a customized carrier board and CAN-connected distributed motor controllers. This solution replaced all the existing control logic of the system.

By redesigning the system, the component costs and power consumption of the AGV dropped and the system performance went up. A Simulink developed kinetic model generated the overall execution code. The additional space that was cleared enabled us to increase the mobility, responsiveness, and safety of the system.