Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces the development and release of OpreXTM Robot Management Core. The new Yokogawa OpreX Robot Management Core cited to cater to manufacturing sites is a software application in the OpreX Asset Management and Integrity family.
The development of OpreX Robot Management Core enables Yokogawa to fully roll out its robot operations solution aimed at increasing workplace safety said the official release.
In Yokogawa robot operations solution, the company has mentioned that OpreX Robot Management Core is a key product.
With Yokogawa OpreX Robot Management Core, humans controlling the management of various types of robots that perform plant maintenance tasks can now be done in a safer and more efficient manner.
In addition, when connected to a plant’s control and safety systems the robot management core enables the utilization of manufacturing site data that has been acquired by robots. Also issuing procedural instructions to robots to enable the first step towards autonomous plant operations.
Development Background of Yokogawa OpreX Robot Management Core
The growing need for robots that can move autonomously around plants like oil & gas, chemical, and other manufacturing plants has become critically important. Routine tasks like data collection tasks have been performed by human personnel, and undertake other tasks that exceed human limitations. The new robot management core can help customers address the shortage of personnel’s defying to work in high-risk locations, such as facility inspection work at heights, in enclosed spaces, and in hazardous environments.
Also, the need for efficient management of different types of robots to carry out a variety of tasks in plants efficiently has become important. Yokogawa in its release mentioned that the company began discussions with robot manufacturers in 2019 and in the following year went on to develop a prototype robot management and operations platform that has since been used in proof-of-concept field tests with several customers. Leveraging the experience gained through these tests, Yokogawa has developed this software to make it easier to introduce robots in plants.
Product Features
OpreX Robot Management Core is a software application that improves safety and efficiency in plant maintenance operations by facilitating the utilization of robots. Depending on customer requirements, it can be provided for use in either an on-premises or cloud environment.
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Integrated management of different types of robots
This software enables the registration, management, and operation of multiple types of robots in a unified manner. It supports the Spot four-legged robot from Boston Dynamics and the EX ROVR automatic plant patrol, inspection, and explosion prevention robot from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The software’s management screen, which allows users to check the status of individual robots, is viewed in a web browser, enabling remote operations.
Missions can be preregistered, and either manual or scheduled execution can be selected to have robots perform plant patrols and inspections. Images, video, audio, and other such data collected by robots during patrols and inspections are saved in a database and can be used by other applications.
Inspection tasks such as the visual confirmation of meters and the recording of data that had to be performed manually by plant personnel can all now be done automatically by OpreX Robot Management Core when using OpreX Plant Image Analyzer, a new product that can perform AI-based analysis of images of analog instrument displays and level meters and automatically record it as process data.
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Connection with other systems
This product was developed with the ability to link to Yokogawa’s OpreX Collaborative Information Server. When doing so, the data collected by robots can be combined with data from control systems, safety instrumented systems, and integrated asset management systems for centralized management. This means that application development and data analysis can also be performed easily not just for maintenance tasks, but other operational tasks too. If an interface for robot utilization is built on the OpreX Collaborative Information Server, this enables the dispatch of robots to plant sites and the performance of safety inspections based on alarms detected.
The development of OpreX Robot Management Core enables Yokogawa to fully rollout its robot operations solution aimed at increasing workplace safety. By providing consulting, assistance in the selection and procurement of hardware and software from strategic partners and other sources, and engineering, operational support and other services, Yokogawa is able to help customers resolve issues encountered in their businesses and can develop specific robot and drone applications. Through this one-stop solution, Yokogawa will ensure the reliability, availability, and sustainability of robot operations and help to achieve autonomous plant operations.
In the future, support will be added to the software for a wider selection of robots, as well as drones. Yokogawa will also develop applications that utilize AI technology and enhance functions to enable, among other things, the issuance of robots of instructions that are linked to control system work procedures.
Availability
This product will go on sale on March 22, 2024. For Further Info: www.yokogawa.com
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