Rockwell Expands U.S. Manufacturing With OTTO AMRs and New Plant

Rockwell Automation is expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint with two major moves: rolling out OTTO autonomous mobile robots at its Milwaukee headquarters and announcing plans for a large greenfield production facility in Wisconsin. Together, the initiatives reinforce Rockwell’s commitment to onshoring, workforce development, and supply chain resilience. By combining scalable AMR production with a digitally enabled manufacturing campus, the company is positioning itself to support growing demand for automation across the North American industry.

Users of OTTO AMRs and OTTO Fleet Manager can add new AMRs to their existing fleet and floor setup from a computer or a tablet. Image used courtesy of Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation’s Greenfield Production Site

Rockwell is planning to establish a one-million-square-foot greenfield manufacturing site in Southeastern Wisconsin near its Milwaukee headquarters. Rockwell intends to outfit its new facility with the latest artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation technologies to achieve operational excellence.

The greenfield manufacturing site is part of a substantial $2 billion five-year investment focused on developing the industrial workforce of the future, strengthening U.S. manufacturing capacity, and honing resilience to supply chain fluctuations. The new site will also leverage advanced digital systems and analytics tools to facilitate modern manufacturing operations.

Milwaukee Headquarters Rolls Out OTTO AMRs

The OTTO 600 and OTTO 1200 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are fresh off the production line at RA’s global headquarters in Milwaukee. The 25,000 square feet OTTO production space at the Milwaukee campus recently delivered its first batch of material handling-adapted AMRs for logistics and manufacturing customers looking to diversify their workforce and streamline operational efficiencies.

Following RA’s takeover of Clearpath Robotics, along with its industrial division dedicated to material handling AMR technologies, RA is expanding its brand, OTTO Motors, delivering OTTO 600 and OTTO 1200 AMRs to U.S. businesses. These bots are important investments for logistics and manufacturing companies seeking to enhance worker safety, goods quality, productivity, and combat the labor shortage.

OTTO 600 provides users with a 600 kg payload capacity with the options of adding a cart (for transporting totes and pallets), Nord Lift 80 (for moving totes/pallets to and from stands), and a cart with handles (for moving large boxes, totes, and bins in person-to-person workflows). Users also benefit from a 30-minute charge time (at 10-90%), a footprint of 1,050 x 700 x 320 mm, and a max travel speed of 1.4 m/s.

The OTTO 1200 delivers a higher payload for heavy-duty applications while providing a slim form factor for economising on floor space. The bot has a 910 mm footprint and can navigate tight aisle spaces using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology and 3D cameras for enhanced perception. No floor tape or extra infrastructure is required. The metal chassis of the robot comes with an ingress protection rating, IP54, making it resilient to dust, water splashes, and other particulates common to industrial environments.

The quick access maintenance draws allow for rapid maintenance without needing to remove payloads, which helps to keep operations on the go with little downtime.

OTTO AMRs from RA economize on facility floor space, while providing a durable design and range of payload capacities to suit multiple goods-handling applications. Video used courtesy of OTTO Motors

OTTO Fleet Manager

In order to avoid congestion and gridlock, OTTO Fleet Manager handles mixed fleets on a single map as a unified traffic controller for all OTTO AMR variants. Production signals can immediately activate the most appropriate robot thanks to the software's integration with current MES or ERP systems. Tasks and paths are assigned flexibly, taking into account robot suitability for a task and availability, optimizing goods/part transfer across the shop floor.

The OTTO 1200 is designed for heavy pallet movement, while the OTTO 600 serves as a flexible worker for managing lineside transportation of kitted parts, engaging wheeled carts, and linking islands of automation. The OTTO is suited to handling quick mid-range operations like sub-assembly transfer in confined locations.

Rockwell’s continued innovation and business expansion in the field of robotics and automation is not only cementing its reputation as a leading industrial automation solutions provider and expanding the capabilities of its technology, but also expanding the capabilities of its customers.