Motionwell’s flagship project P23078 delivers a fully integrated QA laboratory automation system. The core is a MiR AMR + Universal Robots cobot compound mobile robot that autonomously transports samples between a 70-position PLC-native storage rack and multiple Instron universal testing machines. The system handles tensile, compression, and flex testing with end-to-end traceability from sample pickup to test result filing.
This is not a concept or pilot. P23078 is a working system that replaces manual sample handling, eliminates test scheduling bottlenecks, and ensures every test result is named, timestamped, and filed according to controlled naming rules.
- AMR + Cobot compound mobile robot (MiR + UR) for autonomous sample transport between storage and testing stations with vision-compensated docking
- Multi-station Instron universal testing machine integration with auto zero reset, speed setting, start trigger, and bidirectional PLC communication via Ethernet/IP
- 70-position sample rack storage (7 rows x 10 columns) with PLC-native lightweight WMS scheduling, slot tracking, and priority queue management
- Automatic test result naming, network file upload, and complete audit trail with sample state tracking (queued, in-test, completed, failed)
- Compound precision: AMR docking accuracy + cobot reach + hand-eye vision compensation for reliable sample handoff every cycle
- Data integrity with explicit sample states, controlled timestamps, and file naming rules that pass audit review
- Safe collaborative operation with station-level safeguarding for mixed human-robot QA environments
- Recovery logic: verified retries, operator prompt sequences, and safe-hold states that maintain traceability when things go wrong
- MiR AMR fleet management with mission dispatch via REST API and automatic charging coordination
- Universal Robots cobot with custom EOAT, gripper I/O control, and hand-eye vision calibration for sample pickup
- Siemens S7-1500 PLC orchestration with OPC-UA, Ethernet/IP, and PROFINET multi-protocol communication
- Instron / ZwickRoell / MTS instrument communication, test parameter setting, and result file management
Featured: Automated QA Lab with AMR-Cobot Compound Robot (P23078)
Project P23078 is Motionwell's flagship QA lab automation delivery. A MiR AMR carries a UR cobot as a compound mobile robot, autonomously navigating between a 70-position sample storage system and multiple Instron testing stations. The PLC-native WMS manages sample queuing, test scheduling, and result filing with full audit trail support.
- Project: P23078 (flagship QA lab automation)
- Robot: MiR AMR + Universal Robots cobot compound mobile robot
- Storage: 70-position rack (7 x 10) with PLC-native WMS
- Testing: Multi-station Instron integration (tensile, compression, flex)
- Control: Siemens S7-1500 PLC, OPC-UA / Ethernet/IP / PROFINET
- Traceability: Automatic file naming, network upload, complete audit trail
AMR + Cobot + Vision Precision Architecture
The compound robot system uses a three-layer precision architecture to achieve reliable sample handoff at every cycle:
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AMR navigation precision – SLAM-based localization guides the mobile base to each docking station. The AMR maintains a map of the lab environment and corrects its position continuously using LiDAR readings against known landmarks.
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Cobot arm positioning – Once the AMR docks, the cobot arm extends to the target position using its joint encoders for repeatable reach. Hand-eye vision calibration maps camera coordinates to the cobot’s tool frame, compensating for any residual AMR docking offset.
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Real-time visual feedback – A camera mounted on the cobot wrist provides final position compensation before gripping. The vision system detects the exact sample position and calculates pixel-to-world coordinate corrections in real time.
This closed-loop approach combines AMR docking accuracy, cobot reach precision, and vision-based error correction. The error compensation algorithm fuses data from all three systems: AMR position sensors report base location, cobot joint encoders report arm configuration, and camera pixel-to-world calibration provides the final correction vector. The result is consistent sample pickup and placement accuracy that does not degrade as the AMR accumulates navigation drift over long operating cycles.
Server-Based Task Scheduling
The PLC-native WMS receives test schedules from a central server over Ethernet. The server determines which samples need testing based on incoming test requests, assigns priority queues, and dispatches AMR missions to transport specific samples to designated testing stations.
Sample states are explicitly tracked through the full lifecycle: queued (awaiting transport), in-transit (AMR carrying to station), at-station (arrived, awaiting test start), in-test (test running on Instron), completed (test finished, results filed), and failed (test aborted or result out of specification). Every state transition is timestamped and logged to the server database, creating a complete audit trail.
Test results are automatically named using a controlled convention: sample ID, test type, timestamp, and operator ID are concatenated into the filename. Results are uploaded to network storage immediately upon test completion. This naming and filing discipline eliminates the manual file management that typically consumes significant technician time in QA laboratories and prevents misfiled or unnamed result files from accumulating.