Autonomous mobile robots work from a map of your site.
AMRs find their own way, but only within the map and the rules someone has given them. Keeping that map and those rules right is site data.
- New rack row logged · aisle 5
- Route through aisle 5 closed
- Speed zone at walkway crossing kept
- Site model v13 → v14
- Change ready for both fleet teams
What an autonomous mobile robot is.
An autonomous mobile robot, or AMR, moves materials and goods around a site without tracks in the floor. It builds a map with its laser scanners and cameras, then plans its own route between positions on that map.
Warehouses
Moving goods between storage, picking and packing. Racks, stock and temporary pallets change the floor every day.
Factories
Taking parts and materials between stores, cells and lines. Cells get moved when a line is reconfigured.
Hospitals
Delivering supplies and samples. MiR sells robots for hospital logistics, where corridors and doors are shared with patients and staff.
transport and logistics robots were sold for professional use in 2024, up 14%, according to the International Federation of Robotics. The figure is based on the IFR's survey of suppliers.
The route is in the floor, or in a map.
Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and AMRs do similar jobs. The difference is where the route lives, and that decides what has to change when your site changes.
| AGV | AMR | |
|---|---|---|
| How it moves | Follows fixed paths, typically marked with magnetic tape or wires. | Navigates from a map of the site and plans its own route. |
| What is in the floor | Tape, wires or markers. | Nothing. The route lives in software. |
| When the layout changes | The physical guidance has to be changed. | The map, zones and positions have to be updated. |
| Site data it depends on | The track layout. | A current map, zones, positions and clearances. |
Some AGVs now navigate from maps as well, for example with BlueBotics' ANT. Either way, a map-based vehicle is only as good as the map of the site it is given.
The robot finds a route. The site sets the rules.
An AMR is good at getting from A to B. Where A and B are, where it may not go and where it should slow down all come from the site.
What the robot brings
- Navigates without tracks in the floor
- Plans its own route between positions
- Stops or steers around obstacles in its path
- Reports its position to fleet software
What the site has to give it
- Areas it must never enter, such as stairs, holes and glass walls
- Where to slow down, such as walkway crossings
- Named positions: pick-up, drop-off and docks
- Doors, ramps and one-way aisles
- What changed: new racks, moved cells, blocked aisles
Each fleet gets its own hand-drawn map.
AMR makers give operators good tools for mapping and zoning. The work is done robot maker by robot maker, in each maker's own software.
Map the site
The map is usually made by driving the robot around. MiR's user guide says you drive the robot around its intended work environment, and MiR can also start from a CAD floor plan. Omron's fleet software converts a scan into a map. BlueBotics' ANT navigation is set up by driving the vehicle around, then cleaning moving objects out of the map.
Draw the rules
Next, someone draws the site's rules onto that map. MiR has forbidden, preferred, speed, directional and critical zones, and its guide tells users to mark descending stairs and holes as forbidden zones, and glass walls as a forbidden zone rather than a wall.
Add positions and tasks
Pick-up points, drop-off points and docks are placed by hand: positions and markers in MiR, goals and docks in Omron's software, routes in BlueBotics' ANT lab.
Keep it up to date
MiR's guide says plainly: keep the maps up to date. Omron can update part of a map after small changes. Each robot maker's software holds its own copy, and VDA 5050, the common interface for fleet control, does not define a shared map format.
The result: every robot maker holds its own copy of your site, drawn by hand. When racks move or a cell is rebuilt, each copy has to be updated, and they drift apart.
Six things an AMR fleet needs.
None of these depend on which AMR you use. Held once and kept current, they can serve every fleet on the site.
Base map from your drawings and scans
Walls, racks, machines and fixed objects, built from CAD, BIM (IFC) or a lidar scan. Available before the first robot drives the site, and in one place rather than inside each robot app.
source · DWG floor plan + lidar scan hall B · 4,200 m² → base map v14
Zones, with a reason
Forbidden areas, speed zones and one-way aisles, each with the reason it exists: a staircase, a walkway, a glass wall, a press. When the reason goes away, the zone can go too.
no-go · press 3 · reason: machine guard speed · walkway crossing · reason: people one-way · aisle 2 · reason: width 1.4 m
Positions, docks and stations
Every pick-up, drop-off and charging point, named the way your people name them, so a task means the same thing to every fleet.
line 4 · drop-off 2 dock 1 · charger stores · pick-up A12
Doors, ramps and narrow points
Automatic doors, ramps, fire doors and the clear width and height of each passage, so you know which robot and which load fit where.
door D2 · auto · 1.6 m wide ramp R1 · 6 % slope mezzanine · 2.1 m clear height
Walkways and shared space
Where people walk, cross and work, so speed zones and routes match how the floor is actually used.
walkway W1 · crossings 3 break area · 07:00-07:30 busy → speed zones checked
Change history
Every layout change as a new version: what moved, when, and which zones and routes it affects.
31 Oct · new rack row · aisle 5 affects · route A3, route B1 v13 → v14
Standards help. They do not share the site.
Three standards matter for AMR fleets. They cover how robots talk to fleet software and how they are made safe on site. None of them hands every fleet the same current map.
VDA 5050
An interface for communication between driverless vehicles and a master control system, developed by the German automotive association VDA and the engineering association VDMA (GitHub). Version 3.0 adds zones for traffic management. BlueBotics notes that the standard does not currently define a unified map format.
ANSI/A3 R15.08-2
A safety standard for integrating, configuring and customising industrial mobile robots into a site, including the adaptations needed for the facility.
ISO 3691-4
The safety standard for driverless industrial trucks. TÜV Rheinland describes how it works with restricted, hazard and confined zones on site.
One current model of your floor.
Kaiinos does not make robots. We build and maintain the site data your fleets work from.
Site model from your data
Built from CAD, BIM (IFC), lidar point clouds and drone surveys, or we capture the site first.
Zones in one place
Forbidden, speed and one-way areas held once, with their reasons, rather than redrawn in each robot app.
Positions and clearances
Named positions, docks, doors, ramps and passage widths, ready to set up tasks.
Kept current
Layout changes become a new version of the model, with a history of what changed.
One model, more than one fleet
Available through APIs and standard formats, so the site work is done once.
Test routes first
Check routes and clearances in a simulation of your real site before a change goes live.
Start with one hall.
Prove it on one area with one fleet, then add areas, fleets and sites.
Pick one area and one fleet
For example one hall and the AMRs that serve it today.
Build the site model
We build the model, zones and positions from your drawings and scans, or survey the area.
Line it up with your robots
Your team checks the model against the robot maps and zones already in use.
Change, update, repeat
When the layout changes, we update the model, and your teams update the fleets from one source.
Frequently asked questions
What is an autonomous mobile robot?
A robot that moves materials or goods around a site without fixed tracks. MiR describes AMRs as using cameras, sensors and laser scanners with software to build maps and navigate on their own.
What is the difference between an AMR and an AGV?
An AGV follows fixed paths, typically marked with magnetic tape or wires. An AMR navigates from a map of the site and plans its own route. Some AGVs now navigate from maps too, so the line between the two is less sharp than it was.
How does an AMR make a map of a site?
Usually by being driven around the site while its laser scanners record the surroundings. MiR, Omron and BlueBotics all describe this approach. MiR can also start from a CAD floor plan.
Does VDA 5050 let robots from different makers share a map?
Not fully. VDA 5050 standardises communication between vehicles and a master control system, and version 3.0 adds zones. It does not currently define a unified map format, so each maker still keeps its own map.
What happens when the layout changes?
Maps, zones and positions have to be updated in each robot maker's software. With one current site model, the change is recorded once and every fleet team works from the same version.
Does Kaiinos make AMRs?
No. Kaiinos builds and maintains the site data: the model, the zones, the positions and the changes. You keep your robots and their fleet software.
Your AMRs can find their way. We keep the map right.
Tell us which site, which fleet and what keeps changing.
Start a pilothello@kaiinos.ai