ARISE Experiments
HERMES
Human-Enhanced Robotics and Modular Efficiency System
HERMES integrates robotics, AR, and smart storage with a middleware connecting Orion-LD and ERP systems to AGVs and cobots. This streamlines electrical panel assembly, improving accuracy and safety, empowering workers towards sustainable automation.
The Challenge: Streamlining Complex Industrial Assembly
In modern industrial manufacturing, tasks like electrical panel assembly are crucial yet incredibly meticulous and time-consuming. These processes often demand highly specialized manual skills, which are hard to automate. This creates significant bottlenecks, limits efficiency, and can lead to physical strain and errors for human operators. The challenge lies in creating a dynamic, adaptive workflow that not only improves accuracy and safety but also empowers workers of all skill levels, rather than replacing them. There’s a clear need for solutions that bridge disparate systems and foster seamless human-robot collaboration.
Our Solution: HERMES' Integrated AR, Robotics & Smart Logistics
HERMES (Human-Enhanced Robotics and Modular Efficiency System) is a pioneering project that revolutionizes complex assembly processes, specifically focusing on electrical panel manufacturing.
Developed by Ampero, HERMES integrates a suite of cutting-edge technologies:
- Augmented Reality (AR): Operators use an intuitive AR interface to select tasks and receive real-time visual guidance during assembly and wiring, reducing cognitive load and improving accuracy.
- Collaborative Robots (Cobots): State-of-the-art cognitive cobots handle the precise picking and loading of components onto AGVs.
- Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs): AGVs manage the logistics of retrieving and delivering electric component trays from automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) to operator stations.
- Custom Middleware: At the core, a custom-developed middleware system connects Orion-LD, ERP systems (like Odoo). This module facilitates real-time data exchange, ensuring smooth coordination and resource optimization.
This dynamic and adaptive workflow significantly increases productivity, enhances accuracy, and boosts worker safety, promoting inclusivity by empowering workers of all skill levels.
Human Centricity: Amplifying Human Capabilities
HERMES directly reflects Industry 5.0 principles by preserving and amplifying the importance of human roles through advanced robotic collaboration and logistics cooperation.
- Operator Empowerment: Operators remain central to the process, dynamically selecting tasks via the AR interface. While AGVs and cobots handle repetitive or physically demanding tasks (component retrieval and transport), operators can focus on higher-value, creative aspects of their roles.
- Reduced Strain & Errors: This approach not only improves productivity but also reduces physical strain and minimizes errors, preventing fatigue-related risks.
- Adaptive Workflows: The AR interface allows operators to tailor workflows to their skill levels and workload, supporting self-directed and agile work principles.
- Inclusivity & Diversity: HERMES fosters an accessible work environment that accommodates a diverse range of worker profiles, bridging the skills gap and enabling individuals from underrepresented or less experienced groups to participate in high-value manufacturing processes. The system is designed with customizable language options and adjustable levels of detail.
- Enhanced Safety: The integration of redundant sensors and safety mechanisms in cobots (LIDAR) ensures secure human-robot collaboration, emphasizing operator well-being.
The ARISE Contribution: An Open-Source Middleware Module
HERMES’ key contribution to the ARISE community and the broader industrial automation ecosystem is the release of a reusable, open-source middleware module. This component optimizes coordination between Orion-LD, ERP systems, and automated storage solutions.
This module:
- Receives project and component requests from Orion-LD.
- Queries the ERP for component availability.
- Communicates with storage systems to retrieve trays.
Released with comprehensive documentation and example implementations, this module enables wide adoption and advances collaborative automation in industrial environments, even beyond the scope of the HERMES project. The project also integrates a FIWARE-powered Condition Monitoring Module using NGSI-LD protocols for real-time data processing, user-friendly dashboards, and automated alerts, demonstrating a commitment to sustainable, efficient, and agile workflows within the ARISE framework.
Impact & Scalability: Driving Industrial Transformation
HERMES is poised to deliver significant industrial, economic, and social impact:
- Industrial Added Value: Automates repetitive, time-intensive activities to improve productivity and job satisfaction. It is expected to reduce task completion times by 20% and increase throughput by 15%, providing measurable improvements in production efficiency.
- Market Potential: Addresses a significant portion of the industrial automation market (projected to reach over €400 billion by 2029), particularly benefiting SMEs seeking scalable, cost-effective solutions across industries like automotive, logistics, pharmaceuticals, and packaging.
- Economic Impact: Supports job creation and upskilling opportunities, demonstrating that AI and robotics augment human capabilities, not replace them.
- Social Impact: Prioritizes inclusivity by fostering an accessible work environment that accommodates a more diverse range of worker profiles, addressing the skills gap and supporting workforce diversity.
- Perception Shift: Directly challenges the narrative that robotics and AI displace jobs, shifting perceptions towards their potential to elevate human labor in industry.
HERMES accelerates the large-scale deployment of industrial human-robot interaction (HRI) solutions by overcoming traditional barriers to integration, ensuring compatibility with both modern and legacy infrastructure through its open-source approach.
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