To meet the challenges of rising labor costs and an aging population, companies around the world are seeking innovative solutions to optimize resources and stay competitive, making automation more important than ever. To meet the rapid development trend of the robot market, Advantech has launched AFE-R series products for AMR robot applications: AFE-R360 and AFE-R770. The range of products addresses the challenges of robotics applications, providing a full range of solutions from sensor verification, anti-interference, high reliability and integrated AI.

IC690RFH008  The AFE-R360 supports depth vision solutions commonly used by AMR, while the AFE-R770 has integrated IMU sensors and TVS protection from the design stage. Both products offer sensor integration, ensure hardware compatibility, and provide software application packages to reduce the difficulty of integrating sensors. Designed specifically for AMR controller applications, the series offers a compact design and ample I/O ports for sensor data. The AFE-R360 is a 3.5 “single-board computer, and the AFE-R770 is a compact system measuring 215 x 200 x 55 mm. Both systems include multiple LAN and USB 3.2 ports for vision sensors and are equipped with a 2 x CAN bus for battery and motor control. In addition, they offer four RS-232/422/485 ports for robotic sensors and support a wide power input range, making them adaptable to various charging configurations. Here are the main features of these two products.

AFE-R360: Integrated low latency MIPI-CSI/GMSL sensor

IC690RFH008  For most AMRs, the vision sensor is crucial because it allows the robot to avoid collisions with obstacles during operation and to adapt to environmental changes. The AFE-R360 supports up to eight MIPI-CSI channels for low-latency camera inputs, and is also equipped with three LAN ports and three USB-C ports for LiDAR, ToF, and depth cameras. In addition, with a custom-designed camera I/O card, the AFE-R360 can accommodate up to four MIPI-CSI or four GMSL cameras at the same time. These camera sensors enable AMR users to utilize real images and AI-trained models for object detection, facilitating “autonomous” object recognition and field responses, rather than just “automatically” avoiding objects via distance sensors. Developing MIPI-CSI drivers was challenging, so Advantech partnered with camera vendors e-Con, Innodisk, and D3 to develop camera drivers on the Intel platform. Through exchanges and cooperation between the two parties, Advantech successfully adapted MIPI-CSI and GMSL cameras, and included all relevant toolkits in the software package.