Publication
Agent-based Initialization of Autonomous Mobile Robots: Leveraging the Asset Administration Shell for automated Commissioning
Philipp Richard; Alexis T. Bernhard; Andreas Luxenburger; Henning Gösling; Achim Wagner
In: 2025 IEEE 30th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA). IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA-2025), September 9-12, Porto, Portugal, IEEE, 2025.
Abstract
Intralogistics 4.0, a key component of Industry 4.0, requires driverless transport systems such as autonomous mobile robots to operate reliably and flexibly in increasingly complex production environments. However, the todays manual setup of Robot Operating System and Software stacks like Navigation2 is still very time-consuming, error-prone and dependent on skilled workers. By using the Asset Administration Shell's digital twin concept, we can represent software components, including the basic ROS2 setup, specific packages and configuration files in a new inruduced submodel. This digital representation not only reduces the possibility of inconsistent package versions, but also ensures traceability. We present an agent-based approach that automates both the installation and configuration processes, as well as the system integration into the factory architecture. Our novel resource initialization agent is able to initialize an empty autonomous mobile robot from a minimal operating system to a fully operational robot. By referencing the required software parts within the asset management shell, we can automatically install its runtime system (ROS2), configure its software (launch, parameter files, maps, etc.) and also open interfaces to integrate it into the overall multi-agent system without manual operations. Initial results successfully demonstrate that our approach significantly reduces commissioning time and integration risk compared to traditional manual methods. It also lays the foundation for further enhancements such as dynamic reconfiguration of autonomous mobile robot fleets in modular production setups.