Siemens has announced plans to integrate its Operations Copilot into driverless transport systems and mobile robots. Through the agent-based interface, users will be able to configure autonomous industrial mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs). They will be able to assign them tasks like transporting materials and goods across the shop floor.

In a next step, Siemens will expand the capabilities of the Operations Copilot by introducing AI agents specifically developed for use with AMRs and AGVs. These agents will support both the commissioning and operation of individual vehicles and entire fleets. The agents will integrate the AGVs into a factory’s existing IT and OT infrastructure and configure them for specific conditions like routes and transfer stations. The Operations Copilot will leverage AGV sensors and cameras to generate a detailed understanding of their environment.

The Operations Copilot will also be able to access technical documentation of the installed components and retrieve real-time system data through its agent interface.

Siemens’ new software solution, Safe Velocity, enables fail-safe monitoring of vehicle speed. This allows the protective fields of safety laser scanners to be dynamically adjusted in real time. The TÜV-certified software is compatible with the hardware and software from a variety of AGV manufacturers and enhances existing safety systems to meet industrial safety standards. According to Siemens, Safe Velocity reduces the need for additional safety hardware. This simplifies system architecture, saves vehicle space, lowers engineering complexity, and minimises cabling requirements.

In the future, the Operations Copilot will interact with AI agents such as Safe Velocity to analyse targeted data from safety laser scanners and monitor the speed of AGVs. The virtual Safe Velocity agent supervises autonomous vehicles and can cooperate with other agents designed for AGV and AMR applications. This way, Siemens is building a multi-agent system where the Operations Copilot orchestrates both physical and virtual AI agents.

“By integrating both physical and virtual AI agents into our Operations Copilot, we’re unlocking a new dimension of interaction between humans, robotics, and AI,” said Rainer Brehm, CEO of Factory Automation at Siemens. “This enables our customers to deploy autonomous transport systems more quickly, operate them efficiently, and enhance safety – bringing us one step closer to a fully autonomous factory.”