Case Study

Autonomous mobile robots for smart Building Management

Robotics platform paves the way for innovative use of autonomous robots in facility management.

#Artificial Intelligence
#Robotics & Autonomous Things
#Autonomous mobile robots

Smart Building
Management

Intelligent buildings adapt to people and their needs. Phoenix Contact, a global market leader for electrical engineering and automation technology, offers the "Emalytics" building management system, which fully maps the requirements of the digital transformation of buildings. The solution from Phoenix Contact communicates with all complex hardware systems, devices or actuators. This means that all processes, systems and applications of the technical building and energy system can be integrated.

In day-to-day operations, building managers are faced with the challenge that every error message triggered by an IoT sensor in a building must be checked 24/7 by a technician. Mobile robots such as Spot from Boston Dynamics can make a valuable contribution here. As robot usage grows, communication options between the robots are required. Previously, this was not feasible.

The future of buildings is smart - and their present already is.

Frank Schröder
Head of Facility Management, Phoenix Contact

The Reply Robotics Platform

Based on Microsoft Azure, Reply has developed an end-to-end robotics platform that enables the integration of robots regardless of the manufacturer. As a central platform, it supports communication between robots, between humans and robots, or with other IoT devices. In this way, robots can perform their tasks largely autonomously and human operators can transmit instructions as needed. Routines for robots can also be defined. This allows robots to work on multiple tasks at the same time, often using artificial intelligence. The solution architecture enables new business applications in a range of industries, reduces investment costs, and provides the basis for rapid implementation of customer-specific use cases in robotics.

Spot in use at Phoenix Contact

Phoenix Contact is a global market leader for electrical engineering and a solution provider in the automation sector. Phoenix Contact's facility management operates more than 100 buildings worldwide with over 17,000 employees. For Phoenix Contact, an integration between the Reply Robotics platform and the existing Emalytics solution was created. As an example, in the event of a night-time alarm or error message - triggered by an IoT sensor - the first action is to send an autonomous robot equipped with a (thermal imaging) camera or gas detectors to check the situation.

This can help avoid human intervention in case of false alarms or in less serious cases. The integration of the Reply Robotics platform with Phoenix Contact's Emalytics makes the building management system more resilient to faults, while buildings become smarter, more autonomous, and better adapted to human needs. This helps to manage buildings more efficiently, increase safety for people and contribute to environmental protection by detecting gases or liquids that are harmful to the climate.

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With trend-setting connection and automation technology, Phoenix Contact is shaping solutions for the world of tomorrow together with customers and partners. They support wherever needed - for example in transport infrastructure, electromobility, for clean water, regenerative energies and intelligent supply networks or energy-efficient machine and plant engineering. With almost 100 years of experience in mechanical engineering and automation, the company is already working today on the intelligent production of tomorrow.

Roboverse Reply

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Roboverse Reply specializes in integration scenarios around Robotics and Reality Capture with Mixed Reality, where Cloud or On-Premise Infrastructures require Enterprise-Ready solutions. Roboverse Reply solutions include AI Skills with sensor-based anomaly detection, Fleet Management for Internet of Robotic Things, Digital Twins and Business Logic to deliver end-to-end support for the customers. The Roboverse Reply platform enables Autonomous Preventive Inspection to prolong the lifespan of your infrastructures and interactive telepresence, crucial for Safety and Security purposes.