MOTOMAN NEXT is Yaskawa's innovative platform designed to revolutionize adaptive robotic automation by seamlessly integrating traditional robot control with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This all-in-one solution combines robot hardware, software, and engineering tools to enable robots to perceive, understand, and autonomously respond to dynamic environments and varying workpiece scenarios.
Key Features and Functionality:
- Integrated Control System: MOTOMAN NEXT merges classic robot control with an NVIDIA-based Autonomous Control Unit (ACU), providing a unified platform that bridges the operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) realms.
- Advanced Computing Power: Equipped with NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX, the platform offers substantial CPU and GPU capabilities for efficient data processing, including machine vision, sensor integration, and AI applications.
- Open Software Environment: The system supports a Linux-based Docker environment, facilitating the deployment of modern software engineering tools from Yaskawa, NVIDIA, and the ROS 2 community, granting developers the flexibility to create and implement AI-driven robotic applications.
- High-Precision Manipulators: The NEX series robots, part of the MOTOMAN NEXT platform, feature newly designed high-inertia servo drives from Yaskawa’s Sigma-X generation, ensuring exceptional drive dynamics and absolute accuracy for precise operations.
- Automatic Collision-Free Path Planning: The platform includes services for automatic, collision-free path planning, allowing robots to navigate complex environments safely and efficiently.
Primary Value and User Solutions:
MOTOMAN NEXT addresses the challenges of automating complex tasks that were previously considered difficult or uneconomical to automate. By enabling robots to adapt to new situations and workpiece variants through sensor technology and AI, the platform opens up automation possibilities in industries such as logistics, healthcare, construction, and recycling. This adaptability helps businesses overcome labor shortages and enhances productivity by allowing robots to perform tasks requiring a degree of flexibility and decision-making traditionally associated with human workers.
