ECA Group is joining forces with iXblue and becomes Exail 
The automation and smart organisation of today’s industry is fundamentally changing the way we work. Exail is contributing to the rapid progress of Industry 4.0 through its autonomous indoor and outdoor solutions.
Based on 50 years of expertise in industrial robotics and automation, Exail’s engineering teams have combined their skills across sites to build AMRs for indoors and outdoors operations.
Exail’s AMRs respond to various market needs:
- optimizing logistics flows,
- improving safety on industrial sites,
- reducing painful tasks,
- freeing resources for higher added values activities
- reducing carbon emission
Exail’s innovative solutions can be qualified and implemented without interruption or modification of existing flow and infrastructures. Exail’s AMRs work day and night, perform twice as much as classical industry equipment and take on heavy, hazardous and repetitive tasks.
Exail’s AMRs for indoor and outdoor usage
As autonomous cars, the automated industrial vehicles developed by Exail are based on the SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) technology which enables the vehicule to locate itself its environment and adapt its navigation/behaviour to a given situation. This allows a safe interaction with pedestrians, cyclists and lorries.
Designed and developed for indoor, outdoor and multi-building operations, without any changes to infrastructure or any additional installations, Exail AMRs are the first of a kind.
Exail’s Autonomous Mobile Robot: Ready-made and customised solutions
Exail designs, builds and industrialises Autonomous Logistic Vehicles (unit load carriers, forklifts, towing vehicles) as off-the-shelf solutions with 1 to 40 tons capacities.
The AMRs can tackle different loads and environments. Recently, Exail has industrialised its autonomous indoor and outdoor pallet truck for logistics L-S 1PT. French logistics supplier IDEA has chosen the AMR L-S 1PT to optimise logistic flows between buildings.
On the other hand, Exail is specialized in providing specific, high-technology solutions for world recognized industrial partners. These solutions are capable to operate in most demanding environments such as aluminium smelters, nuclear plants or aerospace factories.
Exail has recently developed a customised Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) in the context of its partnership with Rio Tinto Aluminum Pechiney. This is an industrial autonomous vehicle, specially designed to work in the demanding aluminum smelters. MAX is one of the world’s first self-driving vehicles for anodes, and it can charge loads of up to 12 tons.
This solution is dedicated to autonomous management of heavy loads in industrial environment. It consists of a Fleet Management System (FMS) and of one or more self-driving vehicles of different types specifically adapted for anodes or metal crucibles transportation.
This system operates INDOOR or OUTDOOR with high accuracy localization working independently from any external device (like satellites for the GPS or reflectors for laser positioning systems).
benefits
- Self-driving vehicles
- Easy integration without additional infrastructures
- No infrastructures required for guiding
- All Exail AMRs can be controlled by one centralized Fleet Management System (FMS)
- Smart navigation preventing collision or damage while maneuvering operations
- Indoor/outdoor multi-building navigation
- High accuracy localization thanks to simultaneous localization and mapping navigation system
features
- Intelligent pallet docking
- Up to 1,5T pallets
- 100% electric actuators
- Short turning radius
- Virtual bumper
- According to the model, electrical, hybrid energy supply. Hydrogen solution coming soon.
APPLICATIONS
- Industrial plants
- Construction
- Aerospace industries
- Material manufacturing
- Naval construction
- Food and Beverages
- Health care
- E-commerce
Be Green
Another challenge for designing AMRs is to reduce its environmental footprint.
To meet these expectations and forthcoming regulations, Exail has been focusing its efforts to improve the hybridization of its AMRs and offer efficient electricity powered autonomous logistic vehicles in the near future.
Be Safe
Further developments focus on securing the load itself when exceeding the AMR size in order to build a “virtual wall” around it and prevent damage during maneuvering operations.
The SLAM navigation system already ensures safety and anti-collision against any object or people around. In addition, 4 Lidar sensors all around guarantee ultimately independent safety (Safety virtual bumper)
In addition, the centralized fleet management mode allows to operate missions of several Autonomous AMRs and to manage stocks, locations and traffic network.
Be Smart
Exail has developed another innovative approach for its AMRs as a fleet: thanks to a dedicated software, industrials will be able to easily manage several AMRs within their plant whether for individual or simultaneous handling.
A multipurpose solution to manage different sizes and weights of loads based on modular AMRs has also been developed. Thus, two or more AMRs can be connected in order to work in a swarm mode which increases and diversifies the handling capacity. Benefitting from these latest developments, Exail AMRs can handle both standardized loads such as euro-pallets as well as non-standardized loads.
Exail: expertise at all phases of the project
ECA GROUP know-how include all the phases of complex System Engineering, such as :
- Designs, FEM calculations
- On-site integration
- Tests, reports
- Integrated Logistic Support
- Long-term maintenance planning and execution
Exail supports its industrial customers during all the phases of the project, from the feasibility study up to the installation of the AMRs and the Fleet Management System.
