Amazon Web Services Inc. today introduced a new service, AWS IoT RoboRunner, aimed at simplifying several of the key tasks involved in managing fleets of robots. 

The service made its debut at the cloud giant’s annual AWS re:Invent event running this week. It’s based on technology that AWS parent Amazon.com Inc. uses in its fulfillment centers.

Companies that operate large robot fleets, such as manufacturers, rely on various software applications to manage their autonomous systems’ work. These applications are responsible for tasks such as assigning work to robots and detecting technical issues. The more advanced the robot fleet, the more sophisticated the software needed to run it. 

Building and maintaining applications for managing robot fleets can be highly complicated. With IoT RoboRunner, AWS is looking to simplify the task for developers.

“Something we’ve been saying for a while about IoT is you have to service developers because they will win the day in IoT by creating value for a diverse set of use cases,” commented Dave Vellante, chief analyst at SiliconANGLE sister market research firm Wikibon. “Contrast this with the prevailing approach of many traditional enterprise tech companies to try and retrofit their existing general-purpose technologies for IoT applications. But they don’t have the programmability and cloud API affinity.” 

According to AWS, one reason why software operations can be a challenge for robot operators is that they often source robots from multiple suppliers. A logistics firm, for example, might buy robotic arms from one supplier and parcel sorting systems somewhere else. In such situations, each robot has to be separately connected to the applications that the logistics firm uses to manage its robot fleet, which involves a great deal of software integration work.

IoT RoboRunner provides features that simplify software integration. It also streamlines related processes, AWS says, such as managing the process of assigning tasks to the robots in a facility.

“RoboRunner lets you connect your robots and work management systems, thereby enabling you to orchestrate work across your operation through a single system view,” AWS Principal Developer Advocate Channy Yun wrote in a blog post today. 

IoT RoboRunner pulls operational data from the different types of robots that a company uses into a cloud-based repository. A company’s developers can make the operational data collected by IoT RoboRunner available to robot fleet management applications. Developers can also build new software atop the service, according to AWS. 

The cloud-bases information repository that IoT RoboRunner uses to store operational data from robots is made up of three registries. Each registry stores a different type of data.

The first registry holds metadata about a company’s robots, such as system properties. The second stores information about how the robots move about in a facility. The third registry tracks the tasks performed by each robot in a fleet.

Companies can put the data they store in IoT RoboRunner to use with the help of two software tools provided by AWS. The first, called Task Manager Library, helps coordinate the work of robot fleets by managing the process of assigning tasks to robots. Another tool called Fleet Gateway Library syncs tasks to the fleet management systems a company uses to manage its robots.

AWS says that IoT RoboRunner can simplify operations for customers in several ways. The service’s features for storing robot data enable developers to more easily build robot management applications. Additionally, IoT RoboRunner eases the task of connecting disparate robot control systems and work management applications. 

IoT RoboRunner’s built-in Task Manager Library and Fleet Gateway Library tools promise to further simplify operations for companies. According to AWS, the tools can streamline the process of assigning tasks to robots in a facility. 

IoT RoboRunner is not AWS’ first foray into the robotics market. The Amazon unit also provides a service called AWS RoboMaker that enables robot makers to run simulations on the cloud giant’s infrastructure. Simulations are a useful tool for testing new robot designs and training their onboard artificial intelligence algorithms to operate more accurately. 

IoT RoboRunner is available in public preview.

Photo: AWS