Swiss firm Aptiv is working with industrial automation company Comau to explore the co-development of intelligent automated warehouse and logistics systems.

The aim is to help industrial customers operate more safely, efficiently and autonomously.

They have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that establishes a framework for the two companies to evaluate joint development in key areas of focus including robotics and autonomous systems.

“Robotics and industrial automation are evolving quickly, with systems that sense, think and act in real time at the edge,” said Jay Bellissimo, senior vice president at Aptiv (www.aptiv.com). “Through our work with Comau, we aim to combine Aptiv’s advanced perception, compute and software with Comau’s deep expertise in robotics and large-scale industrial deployment, to help customers build smarter, safer automation without the cost and complexity that has historically slowed adoption.”

Giovanni Volpes from Italian company Comau (www.comau.com) added: “Comau’s planned partnership with Aptiv creates a powerful combination of complementary strengths. Together, we can deliver advanced robotic and digital solutions that help customers in many different sectors modernise operations, accelerate AI adoption and prepare for a future where autonomy is foundational to industrial productivity.”

The proposed collaboration combines Aptiv’s Wind River edge platforms and Aptiv Pulse sensor and interconnect with Comau’s expertise in robotics, automation and large-scale deployment across complex production environments all over the world.

This initial phase of the cooperation is expected to explore several high-value use cases across the industrial automation landscape:

• Robotics: Perception and compute reference architectures for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), collaborative robots (cobots) and other autonomous platforms, validated with real-world Comau use cases.
• AI-enabled warehouse and logistics: Enhancement of Comau’s Automha logistics software, drawing on Wind River cloud and edge technologies to support AI and ML at the edge, improve system intelligence, real-time responsiveness and lifecycle management across logistics operations.
• Interconnect for industry: Rugged cabling, micro and modular connectors, and cable assemblies engineered for performance, durability and weight in robotic applications.
• Radar and vision-based safety: Alternative safety architecture integrating deterministic compute and multizone monitoring to improve worker protection while reducing cost and system complexity.

This collaboration seeks to build on Comau’s use of Wind River’s VxWorks (www.windriver.com/products/embedded/vxworks) in its industrial controllers as well as the use of Comau robots in Aptiv manufacturing facilities, with the goal of extending the relationship across Aptiv’s broader portfolio of perception, compute, sensing and interconnect.