WE OFFER TURNKEY SOLUTIONS TO AUTOMATE PASSENGER VEHICLE DRIVING
IN FACTORY GROUNDS, VEHICLE LOGISTIC YARDS & PROVING GROUNDS.
Powering the AVM solution at its core is Embotech’s automation technology platform that intelligently, safely, smoothly, and efficiently maneuvers vehicles in real time. Both systems are infrastructure based in terms of sensing and compute, require minimum intervention on the vehicle side and can coordinate multiple vehicles simultaneously.
Automated Vehicle Marshalling (AVM)
How?
Our AVM solution uses smart infrastructure to automate vehicle operation. This innovative approach minimizes the requirements on the vehicle itself, allowing us to control almost any standard production car.
THE FIRST CE MARKED AVM SYSTEM
COMPLIANT WITH
ALL RELEVANT SAFETY STANDARDS
FOR AUTOMATED DRIVING WITHIN FACTORY GROUNDS AND VEHICLE LOGISTIC CENTERS – CERTIFIED BY TÜV SÜD.
Watch the video below for a deeper dive into how it works!
©BMW AG
Why it matters? The Impact of AVM
Current methods of manually driving vehicles through different stations of the production is costly and inefficient. AVM offers a range of advantages
Cost Reduction
Saves 1/2 of the driver’s costs & eliminates damages.
Replaces traditional conveyors.
Efficiency Improvement
Minimizes driver and vehicle travel times.
Eliminates human error, e.g. misplacement of vehicles.
Production Flexibility
Adapts to changing layouts, growing volumes and new use cases.
Time-to-market of new models/variants.
Use cases
Our solution covers all use cases to be found in automotive factories: Conveyor belt exit, Wheel Alignment, Body & Paint Inspection, Squeak and Rattle, Engine Test, Sensor Calibration, Drive to Logistics.
The AVM advantage: Why choose Embotech?
Our solution offers a wide range of advantages:
safety
Safety Certified System & CE Marked – designed for highest availability.
Live in a production environment with a German OEM since July 2022.
Capabilities
Fully flexible planning in real-time, can react on e.g. road or test rig closures.
Max speed 30 kph – co-existence with mixed traffic/human-driven vehicles.
Easily configurable for all vehicle models/sub-models.
Cost Efficiency
No special HW needed, all HW is off-the-shelf (OTS).
No changes required in the infrastructure apart from lidar placement.
Lidar placement supported by advanced tooling.
automated vehicle testing
How?
With Embotech’s proprietary technology, we use smart infrastructure to automate vehicle testing operations. Similar to AVM, the requirement on the vehicle are basic.
©BMW AG
Why it matters? The Impact of Automated Vehicle Testing
OEMs routinely perform vehicle dynamic testing for new prototypes and production vehicles. Repeatability, accuracy, and driver’s feedback is essential. Up to now, this costly and manual process is still relying on professional drivers or costly testing robots. Our solution substitutes the obsolete driving robots that are currently used to perform such tests, offering greater flexibility and lower costs.
Cost Reduction
Saves the costs for professional drivers and specialized robots which are used for vehicle testing.
Efficiency Improvement
Minimizes efficiency losses – vehicle preparation with robots, availability of professional drivers.
Eliminates human error.
Testing Flexibility
Adapts to changing testing needs depending on the development phase.
Usable for all kinds of testing, from endurance to dynamic testing at any time.
AVM FAQs
Does Embotech provide the complete AVM solution?
Yes, Embotech is providing the full AVM solution including Perception, the full AD System and Fleet Management SW.
Is the system safety certified for productive usage in a plant environment?
Yes, our AVM system is CE marked and compliant with all relevant safety standards as attested by TüV Süd in June 2024.
Are the route and the trajectory planned dynamically?
Yes, they are planned dynamically. Trajectory packets are sent to the vehicles 10 times per second.
What environments can your AVM system operate in? Are there any limitations?
Our AVM solution is versatile and able to handle both indoor as well as outdoor environments, including mixed traffic situations within a factory setting. However, it’s currently designed for use in controlled, gated areas, not on public roads. The system functions well in typical production environments without requiring any special modifications.
What kind of sensors do you deploy for your AVM solution?
Our AVM solution utilizes LiDARs for precise navigation. As an additional option, cameras can be integrated for onboarding and offboarding processes.
Can your AVM system operate in both indoor and outdoor environments? How do different weather conditions affect its performance?
Absolutely, our AVM solution is versatile and functions effectively in both indoor and outdoor settings. The LiDAR sensors, the core of our system, are not affected by light levels. The system can handle “normal” rain and snow conditions. However, we work collaboratively with an OEM to define specific operational limitations and develop contingency plans. For instance, during heavy snowfall, snow removal procedures might be necessary.
How many vehicles can be operated simultaneously by your AVM system? How many did you already operate in test and real environment?
In principle, our AVM system is scalable and can handle any number of vehicles operating simultaneously.
How many LiDAR sensors would be required to cover a large open area, like a 50,000 square meter factory floor, or a 1 km long two-lane road?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer! The number of sensors depends on several factors, such as the minimum size of obstacles you need to detect.
Can parked vehicles be localized in a parking area?
Our AVM solution stores the last position of the vehicles it has driven. Therefore, we can localize them afterwards. Onboarding vehicles that are manually driven and parked in a parking area will depend on your onboarding requirements.
What is the maximum vehicle speed? What is the reason for this limitation?
The maximum speed of our AVM solution is depending on the location and the risk encountered. For example:
- 30km/h in areas dedicated to vehicles (one-way streets and no pedestrians in the area).
- 19 kph in mixed traffic with oncoming traffic.
These speed choices are the result of our Risk Assessment that includes a detailed analysis of exposure, severity, and controllability aspects. We can set speed limits very fine-grained on our map, depending on the use case and the assumptions our customer wants to adopt.
Which technology do you currently use to establish a robust and reliable connection between infrastructure and the vehicle?
Our current rollout is based on LTE (4G). However, we also support WiFi and Road-Side Units (RSU).
What bandwidth is necessary?
Per vehicle ca. 11 Kbit / second (trajectory packets have 138 Bytes, sent 10 times per second)
What about robustness to loss of connectivity, to loss of parts of infrastructure sensors?
Our system is robust to both. We have developed our own safe communication protocol to deal with packet losses, repetition, re-ordering, payload corruption etc. to be robust against these occasional failures. A full connection loss is safe since the vehicle then enters the safe state. As for infrastructure sensors, the system monitors their state and the coverage; we drive only into areas that are confirmed to be free by a nominally working sensor. If areas are covered with multiple sensors and one fails, we can still drive; if a location is covered by only one sensor, we will not drive there.
How long do you expect an integration / setup will take?
Pilot: 6-9 months / Roll-out: 3 months per use-case
Did you already apply AVM in a running plant / logistics yard? Are there currently any running projects or pilots?
Yes, we have deployed our AVM solution at several sites. We are currently rolling out our AVM system in automotive factories (series deployments for a German OEM) while also running several pilots for other clients at different stages.
What happens if the connection with the vehicle is lost or if it doesn't receive new instructions?
The vehicle is designed to stop automatically (velocity 0) if it loses communication or doesn’t receive new instructions within a specific timeframe. This way, we ensure safety.
Can vehicles be tracked while being driven manually?
Yes, manually driven vehicles can be tracked at any speed. However, an onboarding process needs to happen before they can be driven by our AVM system.
Looking for more information?
If you’d like to find out more about our AVM Solutions, let us know. Either use the webform on the right or book a meeting via the link below. Our team of experts will be happy to discuss more details with you.