Breaking the 20-year monopoly myth of foreign countries, the domestic mobile robot "brain" emerges as a dark horse

Preface

An integrated overall solution that allows you to easily build a mobile robot using building blocks.

As time enters 2023, the node for delivering the answer sheet of "Smart Manufacturing 2025" is getting closer and closer. In terms of construction and development direction, smart factories that practice industrialization and informatization have become the core of "Smart Manufacturing 2025".

At the same time, the 14th Five-Year Plan also proposes to complete the construction of more than 500 smart manufacturing demonstration factories by 2025.

There is not much time left for smart manufacturing companies.

Mobile robots: a key step in building smart factories

In the construction of smart factories, the application of mobile robot technology to open up the logistics of the entire factory is the underlying foundation.

As early as 1963, Charlie Rosen of the Stanford Research Institute in the United States proposed the concept of mobile robots.

In 1966, the world's first mobile robot, Shakey, was born. In a research plan (PDF) written by Charlie Rosen and his team to DARPA in 1965, this intelligent mobile robot capable of performing reconnaissance tasks was described in detail.

Over the next thirty years, mobile robot technology in Europe and the United States gradually matured and began to develop towards industrialization, while the domestic market was still in the exploratory stage.

However, after 2015, domestic robot manufacturers seemed to have opened up their "Ren and Du meridians" and took the lead in walking on the flowery road.

Today's mobile robots can respond quickly in complex environments. Even in unfamiliar environments, they can complete autonomous positioning, mapping and path planning to achieve intelligent walking.

If mobile robots simulate humans, then controllers are the “brains” of humans. As the key to autonomous robot movement, mobile robot control technology has always attracted much attention in the industry.

According to China Robot Network, as a leader in the domestic mobile robot control system industry, Zhejiang Kecong (KC) is committed to exporting advanced and reliable mobile robot technology to the industry, enabling mobile robots to be deployed in various industries such as warehousing and logistics, automobile manufacturing, 3C electronics, semiconductors, electronics and communications, new energy, aerospace, medicine, instrumentation, education and scientific research.

National quintessence and national trend: Breaking the 20-year technological myth of foreign countries, domestic mobile robot control system emerges as a dark horse

As a leading domestic supplier of robot control systems and overall solutions, Kecong shoulders the mission of "making mobile robots serve mankind" and positions itself as a "practitioner of the robot era". It develops the "brain" of mobile robots with fully independent intellectual property rights. The company's business has grown rapidly for three consecutive years and has the largest market share.

Core technology research and development is the strongest endorsement of the brand. Since its establishment, Kecong has focused on technology research and development, successfully developed the robot control kernel XCS with fully independent intellectual property rights, tackled the technical problems of "standardization, motion control, navigation algorithm, and industrial-grade reliability", and studied motion control, achieving full-type chassis support, and systematically verifying functions, performance, and scenario applications.

Based on the core technology self-development, the company began to enter the high-end market, breaking the technology monopoly, extending the overall solution, and filling the domestic gap in the high-end market. In 2017, the company successfully developed China's first professional mobile robot control system and completed the global release of the product in Germany, the source of automation. After releasing the industrial vehicle mobile robot control system, Kecong set out to enter the forklift robot market and successfully entered the domestic leading forklift group. The "China Brain" broke the monopoly of foreign companies for the first time.

From 2019 to 2021, the company's business began to expand continuously. Based on industrial vehicles, it expanded into the field of intelligent manufacturing. The algorithm technology breakthrough achieved 5mm high-precision navigation, and the product has all certifications and full industrial-grade reliability. The industry version of the industrial manufacturing mobile robot control system it released has won orders from many leading companies in the industry, and contract orders have continued to double.

It is worth mentioning that in 2022, Kecong completed a Pre-A round of financing of tens of millions of RMB, led by well-known angel investment institutions Dajing Venture Capital and followed by Zhenshi Capital, further accelerating technology upgrades and market expansion. To gain the favor of the capital market, both technical advantages and strategic vision are indispensable. At present, Kecong focuses on control systems and deeply cultivates the domestic market. Its technology has expanded from closed application scenarios to semi-closed application scenario products to low-speed unmanned driving.

Specialization and expertise: integrated overall solution, easy construction of mobile robots in a building block-like manner

According to reports, Kecong's mobile robot autonomous navigation control system overall solution is safe, reliable, controllable and flexible, freeing humans from difficult, complex, dangerous and boring work. Through perception and reasoning technologies, it further achieves human-machine collaboration, human-machine cooperation and human-machine integration.

The solution is centered on the mobile robot standard controller hardware, with two supporting tool-type software, providing a scheduling and simulation system platform, and supporting full-process localized professional technology and service support.

In order to promote the standardization and refinement of the development of China's mobile robot control industry, Kecong recently launched a special controller for the mobile robot segment - AMR mobile robot controller (MRC3100) and fork mobile robot controller (FRC5000) . Based on 8 years of industry application experience, Kecong's special controllers are close to user habits, with powerful performance, wide functions, smaller size and more convenient use.

It is reported that its AMR mobile robot controller (MRC3100) is suitable for various types of AMR mobile robots, supports laser and QR code navigation, and supports differential chassis. It is equipped with a graphical secondary development platform, contains rich communication interfaces, comes with I/O resources, and provides recommended selection, development guides and other document resources.

Looking closely, compared with the previous version, the AMR mobile robot controller (MRC3100) has been fully upgraded: control performance has increased by 100%, navigation performance has increased by 76%, positioning performance has increased by 82%, hardware interfaces have increased by 28%, and tool chain software usability has increased by 40%. In terms of size, the AMR mobile robot controller (MRC3100) adopts a small volume design, the smallest dedicated controller in history, which saves more space and worry. Originating from a deeper understanding of the control system, the AMR mobile robot controller (MRC3100) has a higher degree of integration. The new product has more interfaces, eliminates expansion accessories, reduces wiring harnesses, and has a built-in complete AMR development example, which makes it easy to complete robot development. It is truly a "golden weapon" in the mobile robot industry.

In addition, its new fork-type mobile robot controller (FRC5000) can be used for various types of forklift-type AGV/AMR. It has built-in laser natural navigation, laser reflection navigation, supports single steering wheel chassis, and can be adapted to multiple models of commonly used domestic and foreign navigation sensors.

At the same time, the AMR mobile robot controller (MRC3100) and fork mobile robot controller (FRC5000) are equipped with a graphical secondary development platform, which contains a wealth of communication interfaces, comes with I/O resources, and provides document resources such as recommended selection and development guides. Users can use the graphical secondary development platform (compliant with IEC 6-1131/3 standards) to implement the logic of various robot functions.

" Because of focus, we are professional. " Since the official release of the MRC navigation control system in Hanover, Germany, Kecong has always kept its original aspiration in mind and contributed to China's intelligent manufacturing while the wave of the "Robot +" era is surging.

Conclusion and the future

"Hard science fiction" is not a fictional utopia imagined out of thin air, but a romantic prophecy based on reality and transcending reality, full of ideals and exploration. The Industrial Revolution has pushed the wheel of history forward slowly, and robots have experienced rapid technological changes, promoting the continuous progress of human society in the virtual and real coexistence of science fiction and technology.

Under the national "intelligent manufacturing" and "dual carbon" strategy, mobile robots have promoted the transformation and development of low-carbon emission reduction in many industries such as traditional manufacturing, logistics, new energy, and electricity, and have become an indispensable infrastructure for the construction of smart factory logistics. With the development of China's mobile robot industry, in the future, Kecong will continue to provide overall solutions with safe, stable, reliable, self-controllable, and fully independent intellectual property controllers as the core, and work with global customers to climb to new heights and jointly respond to the opportunities and challenges brought by the "robot +" era.