RK3399-based programmable wheeled robot works across multiple floors

SLAMTEC Hermes robot platform is a programmable wheeled robot that can take payloads of up to 60 kg across multiple floors thanks to an optional elevator controller, which makes it suitable for hotels, hospitals, airports, warehouses, transportation hubs, surveillance robot, and more.

Powered by a Rockchip RK3399 mainboard, the Hermes robot platform supports autonomous path-finding, robot collaboration, cross-floor delivery, smart obstacle avoidance,  safety features, and autonomous Recharging. It can be controlled with a REST API, programmed with C++ SDK, or a program called RoboStudio available for Windows and Android.

Hermes wheeled robot platform specifications:

• Mainboard – Rockchip RK3399 SBC
• Video Output – HDMI
• Audio – 3.5mm audio (mic+headphone) jack, dual-channel 5W/8Ω amplifier header
• Network connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port, dual-band WiFi, 4G cellular with SIM card slot
• USB – USB 3.0 Type-C port
• Motion
  • 6.5-inch in-Wheel motor
  • Up to 1.2m/s (4.3 km/h) by default, but can be customized to up to 1.5m/s (5.4 km/h)
  • 16° max slope
• Sensors
  • 360° Lidar Sensor up to 25m range (option for 30m range)
  • 2x depth cameras
    • 0.2 to 10m detection range
    • FoV
      • Single – H: 87° V: 58°
      • Dual – Double H: 168° V: 58°
  • 2x boundary sensors with 3cm detection range
  • 2x bumper sensors triggered with physical collision
• Mapping – 5 cm resolution, 500 x 500m maximum area
• Power Supply – SBC: 12V DC input, charging station: 25.5V/6A
• Battery
  • 16 Ah (standard) good for 9.5 hours without payload, 25 Ah (optional) good for 15 hours without payload
  • 3 to 4 hours charging time
  • Good for about 800 charges
• Power consumption
  • Standby – 32W (16Ah, no load)
  • Motion – 39W (no load)
  • Full load – 62W in motion
  • Maximum power consumtion – 126W
• Dimensions –  545 mm (L) x 465 mm (W) x 272 mm (H) without elevator controller hardware
• Weight – 40 kg without controller
• Payload – 60 kg max
• Temperature Range – -10°C to +50°C
• Humidity – 5 to 90% RH, non-condensing

As I understand it the Rockchip RK3399 single board computer is placed on top of the robotic platform to facilitate connection to the customer chassis, which for instance, you make use of the HDMI and audio features for a hospitality robot or any robot with a human machine interface (HMI).

Several software tools are provided for the robot. RoboStudio graphical control management tool for Windows and Android allows you to create, manage, and edit maps for each of the robots in your fleet in a way that’s similar to smart vacuum cleaners since it’s using the same SLAM technology.

There’s also a web portal to perform tasks such as firmware upgrades, diagnostics, rebooting the robot, and so on. For more advanced customization, the company provides the SLAMWARE C++ SDK to control most of the features of the robot.  The Robot Agent interface is an HTTP API to control the robot over the network, and the company developed an open-source Android app for delivery use cases that can be found on Github. More details can also be found in the user manual.

If you want to make use of the cross-floor feature, you’d need to install Slamtec “intelligent Elevator Control” kit to smarten your elevator and enable communication with the robotic platform as demonstrated in this short video embedded below.

The “Hermes Cross Floor Moving Robot Platform” has just been listed on Seeed Studio for $5,600 US, but is currently out of stock. The manufacturer’s product page (which loads really slowly) may have more information.

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