The VDMA's AGV Mesh-Up celebrated its world premiere four years ago at TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS. This unique test setup will be back in Dortmund in 2024: the AGV Mesh-Up will show how the implementation of various mobile robots for transportation tasks can be simplified. Ten companies will take part in the live test of the VDA 5050 communication interface.

Background: The use of mobile robots is increasing and with it the complexity of controlling different devices. At the TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS interested people can experience live how the orchestration of different vehicles with a master controller can be implemented via the open communication interface VDA 5050.

Bosch Rexroth, dpm - Daum + Partner Maschinenbau, Fraunhofer IML, Jungheinrich, KUKA, Omron, SAFELOG, Siemens, STILL and SYNAOS are taking part in this year's AGV Mesh-Up. SYNAOS will be responsible for the master control system.

The test scenario is based on practical tasks from warehouse and production logistics. One of the highlights of the upcoming test will be the transport of identical loads with different vehicles. "Once again, we are trying to design the test scenario as closely as possible to real use cases in order to demonstrate the practicality of the interface and the potential of utilising heterogeneous vehicle fleets to trade visitors on site," explains Andreas Scherb, Project Manager of AGV Mesh-Up in the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association.

The linking of warehouse and production processes is exemplified by the picking up of pallets from a rack in the warehouse area by driverless forklift trucks. After being transported to transfer stations, they are transported onwards by underride vehicles to a fictitious place of use in production.

Communication via the central control system takes place via VDA 5050, with the SYNAOS software running in the cloud.

In addition, the new Layout Interchange Format (LIF), which regulates the responsibilities and data formats of the individual project partners and will soon be published by the VDMA trade association, will be used for implementation for the first time. This format will once again make project implementation with VDA 5050 considerably easier, as key relevant aspects can be clearly defined and exchanged.

The AGV Mesh-Up organised by the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association is being held for the fourth time as a test for VDA 5050. VDMA member companies and research institutes can extensively test their vehicles and software solutions with the communication interface and discuss practical issues in dialogue with TEST CAMP visitors. The interface project was initiated by the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and realized as an open source project with the support of the KIT Institute for Materials Handling and Logistics Systems IFL.

All information and background information on the AGV Mesh-Up can be found here: https://www.vdma.org/agv-mesh-up.