Humatics launches Spatial Intelligence Platform microlocation solution

September 12, 2018 – Humatics Corporation, which specializes in microlocation technology, yesterday announced the launch of its Spatial Intelligence Platform at IMTS 2018.

The Massachusetts-based company’s new platform uses radio-frequency beacons deployed in a constellation, mobile sensors and a software suite to give robots and industrial automation equipment the ability to locate themselves, navigate through complex environments and collaborate with people.

It can be used in a number of industrial applications, including automated guided vehicle tracking (AGV), mobile robot navigation, industrial vehicle tracking, tool tracking, drone navigation and the digital twin and other IIoT applications.

“Microlocation will transform the industrial automation and manufacturing industries,” said David Mindell, Humatics co-founder and chief executive officer. “The commercial launch and technological breakthroughs advance our vision for revolutionizing the way people and machines locate, navigate and collaborate.”

AGVs and mobile robots have long relied on magnetic tape and fiducial-based systems that are damage-prone and challenging to build. The Spatial Intelligence Platform aims to change the ways autonomous vehicles move through the factory floor by allowing users to change routes indoors or outdoors without remapping or making infrastructure adjustments.

The KinetIQ family of solutions forms the basis of the Spatial Intelligence Platform, including the KinetIQ 300 system, which localizes mobile objects in 2D and 3D; the KinetIQ 100 system, which measure distances with two centimetres of precision at ranges of up to 500 metres; and the KinetIQ OS, which is a suite of software that allows for provisioning, monitoring and data analytics with an extensible API. 

Balluff is one of the strategic partners Humatics has lined up to use the Spatial Intelligence Platform. 

“We see great potential in Humatics’ microlocation technology,” said Norbert Popp, vice president of product management at Balluff, one of the world’s leading sensor manufacturers. “The ability to precisely and wirelessly locate objects at distances beyond one metre is a difficult challenge in today’s industrial environments.”

Andy Storm, CEO of Eckhart, a systems integrator for advanced manufacturing solutions, also plans to use the Spatial Intelligence Platform on Eckhart’s existing line of AGVs. “Humatics’ microlocation technology is breaking the chains that have bound the manufacturing industry and limited its breadth of potential applications,” said . “Our partnership with Humatics is essential to accelerating the vision of Industry 4.0 for our customers as well as our AUTOCRAFT brand of AGVs.”

Humatics will ship the KinetIQ 100 in Q4 this year with global availability. The KinetIQ 300 and KinetIQ OS are expected to ship in early 2019 in North America, with additional geographies becoming available during the following months.