WiBotic Launches ‘Commander,’ Energy Optimization Software Package for Robot Fleets

February 10, 2021 – SEATTLE – Today WiBotic, a leader in advanced autonomous charging and fleet energy management solutions for the rapidly expanding ecosystem of aerial, mobile, marine, and industrial robots, announced the launch of Commander, a robot fleet energy management software package specifically designed for customers operating large robot fleets. Commander is an easy-to-use, intuitive platform used to visualize, configure, and optimize the delivery of energy throughout a fleet of robots, drones or any battery-powered device using WiBotic charging systems. It is also a robust API, giving operators the opportunity to fully control the charging function as a part of each robot’s daily workflow.



“This year marks an inflection point for robot adoption, from mobile robots to aerial drones, even extending to underwater and space-based robots,” said Ben Waters, CEO and co-founder, WiBotic. “Organizations that have evaluated small numbers of robots in the past are now realizing ROI, and are pivoting to scale-up. Commander was created to address these efforts by providing our customers with unparalleled insight into how their robots consume energy, how to minimize robot downtime and predict failures before they happen; even how to evaluate and compare performance across different battery types and vendors.”



Commander provides a bird’s eye view of the fleet’s charging infrastructure, including a visual display of charger availability and status, and historical information on which chargers are being utilized more than others. WiBotic customers can now easily determine optimal charger placement to maximize opportunity charging and can set up personalized notifications when a robot is not charging properly so the problem can be quickly addressed.



With Commander’s features and API, WiBotic customers can also dramatically increase the lifespan of expensive lithium batteries. This is achieved through dynamic adjustments to variables such as charge voltage and speed (current) based upon each robot’s schedule. For example, users can setup a scheme to charge quickly during the day when robot uptime is critical, and slower at night to maximize overall battery lifetime.



Additional features enable customers to:

• Deploy a common charging infrastructure for all robots in a fleet, regardless of battery chemistry, voltage, or charge speed requirements.
• Auto-discover all transmitters and robots for immediate visibility, so there is no time-consuming manual setup.
• Aggregate detailed information on every charge cycle for every robot, allowing battery performance analysis to better predict failures and avoid downtime.
• Adjust charge settings for groups of robots and push those updates to the fleet automatically.
• Benchmark battery performance across different chemistries and vendors to help customers make more informed decisions over time.
• Easily update firmware for all WiBotic equipment simultaneously with a single keystroke.



Additionally, Commander can be used on premise for environments where IT security is crucial but can also be ported to any cloud using the docker container’s RESTful API. All data seen in Commander can be accessed by calling the API, which means that if it is visible in Commander, it can be tied into the rest of a customer’s workflow.



Early feedback:

Commander has been evaluated by WayPoint Robotics, a leading developer and manufacturer of fully autonomous mobile robots, which launched its EnZone charging system using WiBotic technology in 2018. CEO Jason Walker offered the following comments: “As we deploy larger fleets of robots, we prioritize battery charging as a point of optimization. Robot availability and battery lifespan can be maximized if we know when, where, and how fast to charge; and Commander gives us that visibility and control. Commander also makes deployment and maintenance of multiple EnZones faster and easier than ever before.” For additional information on the WayPoint Robotics EnZone please go to: https://waypointrobotics.com/enzone-wireless-power-system/



“With Commander, we’re introducing an advanced, comprehensive software-based solution for proactive organizations that want unparalleled insight into maximizing robot fleet ROI,” continued Waters. “The release of Commander marks a major milestone for both WiBotic and for the wider robotics industry.”