New generation autonomous assembly line robots under development in the Irish center

Irish software research center Lero unveiled a new € 800,000 R & D program to develop the next generation of autonomous badembly robots

Kostal, a leading automotive electronics manufacturer Limerick, has announced the signing of a € 800,000 contract with Lero, a research center funded by Foundation Ireland, to develop a R & D program for next-generation robots

IT Tralee, the partner Lero academic in the region, will lead the program by working with the University of Limerick. , with the intention of creating standalone systems for Kostal electronic products for electric vehicles at its Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick plant.

Research should include the sourcing and development of cost-effective autonomous mobile adaptive systems capable of remote robotics and standalone operations.

The second component of the research will include advanced data badysis, machine learning and scheduling. g data from a set of sensors to make multimodal predictions for badembly line robots called KostalRovers.

In addition to Abbeyfeale's factory, Kostal has a second factory in Mallow, Cork with a total of

The boom of robots in the Midwest

The Midwest has become an important center of autonomous and electric car development with the recent addition of Jaguar Land Rover which supports the demand of Speaking of the case, Dr. Joseph Walsh who runs the program as a Lero researcher at IT Tralee, said: "There is a common misconception out there that Ireland, because of its" The reality is that the development of increased automation technologies such as this program Kostal can lead to the creation of a more profitable and efficient industry in Ireland. "

In total, more than 20 KostalRovers will be deployed on the company's badembly lines and, according to Lero, they will adopt the latest automation technologies such as the Internet of Things.

Kieran O & # 39; Donoghue, "[The KostalRovers] will provide the flexibility to independently distribute work between lines to better handle volume fluctuations and multiple products compared to the traditional fixed linear production line."

Earlier this year, Lero signed a similar standalone R & D program worth 2 million euros with Dairymaster to introduce new IoT and IoT technologies. 39; IA in agriculture.