FlexGuide4 Release 2.14
Release 2.14 delivers a substantial expansion of the functions for mobile robots as well as numerous improvements to the everyday working areas of FlexGuide4.
For the first time, a complete evacuation management is available: in the event of an evacuation, all mobile robots automatically drive to the nearest free evacuation location, whereby orders that are already loaded are retained, and a new configuration page allows behavior and status to be controlled centrally.
Traffic control for mobile robots has become noticeably more robust: deadlocks and livelocks are now resolved, and paused, offline, or manually relocated robots now reliably block the area they physically occupy, even if they are not positioned exactly on a node. In the layout area, cross-layout transports via new transfer locations make it possible to model multiple floors, and the LIF import has been significantly extended – among other things, node names are now imported and displayed in the frontend, and a LIF export is provided.
The transport order overview can now be extended with the material description and filtered by material number as well as by wildcard locations. For the SAP connection, a dedicated Flexus EWM API with more flexible, customer-specific derivations is available as an alternative to the standard API. The mobile dialogs now support a dark mode, and in the roles and permissions area, additions include read-only access for the API as well as the ability for the control station to log operators off directly.
Breaking Changes
Product Settings
- The deprecated key names have been removed from the webhook conditions; as of this release, only the new field names are available. Customers who still use the old keys in their webhooks must adjust their configuration before the update, otherwise the affected webhooks will no longer be triggered.
VDA5050
- VDA5050 orders now contain the original edge IDs from the imported LIF file instead of a self-composed edge ID. Since the edge IDs from the LIF were not stored until now, customers who require the correct edge IDs must re-import their LIF file once after the update.
Order Management
- The change log recording for transport orders (change tracking) has been migrated to version 2 of the SAP plugin, which captures changes directly at the database level and, according to the vendor, processes simple changes roughly 2-3x faster. Since the recording mechanism changes fundamentally on a technical level, existing evaluations or integrations of the change log should be reviewed.
New Features
SAP
- Fixed an issue where a transport order referencing an EWM block storage, after being parked on an intermediate destination location, triggered an error when the HU was reassigned and scanned again; the follow-up transport order can now be picked up correctly. Due to the changed HU handling after parking, customers with EWM block storage processes should review the behavior.
- As an alternative to the SAP EWM standard API, a dedicated Flexus EWM API is now available, which is activated via an additional toggle in the EWM synchronization. It bypasses limitations of the EWM API and enables more flexible, customer-specific derivations (e.g. support for Kanban warehouse tasks).
- For the EWM and other SAP conditions, the new comparison options “Exclude pattern” and “List does not contain” are available, with which results can be narrowed down negatively in a targeted manner (counterpart to “Include pattern” and “List contains”).
- Via a new validation option, the forklift driver can, during putaway under a general destination storage bin, select the concrete level (e.g. 1-4); the exact destination storage bin is then updated in the warehouse task in EWM. This makes it possible to model multi-level storage (e.g. cantilever racks).
- The SAP synchronization overview has been improved: the filter of the “Origin” column now compares exactly (instead of “contains”), and from the FlexGuide order ID you can jump directly into the pre-filtered transport order overview.
Dialogs
- The customizing of the fault dialog now distinguishes between fault reasons for transport orders that have not yet been picked up and those that have already been picked up, and clearly arranges them into separate sections. As a result, users only see the fault reasons relevant to the respective order status and find the correct configuration more quickly.
- When swapping a handling unit in a transport order, the system now distinguishes whether the transport order is assigned to another resource, locked, in error, or not yet activated. The more informative error messages make it easier for the operator to determine the cause at the device.
- The mobile dialogs now support a dark mode, so that the interface remains comfortably readable even in dark working environments.
- The “Drive tour” dialog has been extended: the currently driven route can be displayed or preselected in customizing, the route selection is now alphabetical, and optionally a route can be driven automatically as long as there are still open transport orders. In addition, the KPIs are now correctly retained after the tour ends.
- The validation can now be set for additional relevant fields of the order (including alternative HU, batch, weight, and group), so that customers can define their checks more precisely.
Dashboard
- In the “List of transport orders” dashboard tile, all columns that are also available in the transport order overview (including transport order type, load carrier type, and origin) can now be displayed.
- The full-text search and the filtering by module in the logs have been accelerated; previously, with a very large number of log entries, it sometimes took several minutes to wait for a result.
Live Map
- In the detail view of a resource on the Live Map, the logged-in user including email address is no longer displayed, so that no personal data is exposed in the map view any longer.
- The diameter of the resource circles on the Live Map can now be set from 1 to 10 m (previously max. 2). On large layouts, the resources thus remain clearly recognizable; in addition, the setting now applies to all resources instead of only to mobile robots.
Layout Editor
- Within a wildcard PoI, several unique locations can now be managed, each assigned to its own node mapping. This makes it possible to model scenarios in which several logically different locations are situated at one physical position (e.g. different rack levels).
- Cross-layout transports are now supported: via a new location type “Transfer location” and connection nodes, transports between multiple layouts (e.g. different floors) can be modeled.
- During the LIF import, the node names (and edge names) are now imported as well and displayed in the frontend – for example in the Layout Editor, on the Live Map, and in “Send To Node” – preferentially instead of the node ID. This makes orientation easier by using meaningful node designations.
- One-way streets in the Layout Editor are now easier to recognize, as the direction arrow is highlighted in color and is no longer only visible when zooming in heavily.
- The name of a path network generated from a LIF is now freely selectable and is no longer necessarily taken from the LIF map ID; the map ID remains viewable via the settings (gear icon).
- In the Layout Editor, when creating locations the system now also checks whether there are overlaps via wildcards (*) (e.g. TEST-* and TEST-123), and such ambiguous duplicates are no longer permitted.
- The minimum edge width in the path network can now be set considerably narrower (0.05 m, 0.025 m, and 0.015 m), which is required in particular for mobile robot path networks.
- A path network and, optionally, the associated stations can now be exported to a LIF file.
- When creating the node mapping, the unique location is now pre-filled with the value contained in the location name – including for wildcard locations, so that only the suffix needs to be added.
Order Management
- Mobile robots whose position is not yet initialized (positionInitialized = false) are not yet ready to drive and are therefore excluded from order assignment. The reason is displayed in the robot’s status on the Live Map.
- The transport order overview can now also be filtered by locations that were defined with wildcards (*, ?, ??); the search thereby finds both generic location definitions and the concrete locations derived from them.
- The transport order overview has been extended with the material description: it can be displayed as an additional column (determined from the SAP material master, in the language of the logged-in user), and a new “Material number” filter is available. Users recognize materials directly and can search for them specifically.
- The multi-stage chaining of transport orders has been extended: a triggering transport order with the status “Locked” freezes the chaining until it is unlocked; for the creation status of the restored transport order, a choice can be made between “Inactive” and “Adopt status”; and the “Discard triggering transport order” option discards the triggering transport order after the chain has been created. This allows chains to be modeled more flexibly.
- The parking dialog receives an optional blacklist function: the “Exclude executing resource” toggle prevents a temporarily parked transport order from automatically being reassigned to the same resource that parked it. Existing locks are displayed in the resource details for traceability.
- When creating an order, only exact location specifications are now permitted – entering an imprecise wildcard (e.g. T*) with automatic location selection is no longer available in any creation path, which is why customers must convert previous wildcard entries to exact locations before the update. In conditions (e.g. location priority, trigger condition of logistical routes, location capacity), wildcards remain possible, so that several locations can be combined into a single condition using a *.
- The assignment of new transport orders can now be switched on and off separately from the assignment of battery, evacuation, and parking orders (two separate toggles instead of one combined toggle).
- The tour overview has been extended: it can be refreshed, it is possible to search by tour ID and order ID, transport orders show the most important information in a popover (including source/destination location, order type, due date, pickup/drop-off time), and delayed orders are highlighted both in the overview and in the detail view.
- Archived transport orders can now be permanently deleted from the database via a background job after a configurable number of days. If no value is entered, no transport orders are deleted.
- The “Archived transport orders” page has been improved in several respects; among other things, it is now easier to find via the transport order overview.
- For PDF printing, a new template “DinA4 – Order Details + Custom Fields – Barcode 128” is available, which additionally outputs all four custom fields with their maintained labels.
- Additional data can now be exported for use in the simulation tool: in the LIF export, wildcard locations are resolved to the actual location, and the change logs of the orders can optionally be downloaded as a second Excel file.
Ressource Management
- The length and width of the safety margin can now be set separately in the resource type.
- Manufacturer-specific settings can now be maintained in the resource type; for Jungheinrich SOTO, a dedicated table is available for configuring the backpack (compartment name, number of KLT, possible load carrier types), including a warning notice when dimensions are missing.
Traffic Management
- A paused, manually relocated, or offline mobile robot now blocks the nodes and edges covered by its vehicle footprint based on its exact world position – even if it is not positioned cleanly on a node. As a result, other robots can no longer plan into its physical position.
- If a mobile robot happens to be started in the base of a driving robot, the driving robot automatically receives a pause and cancel order action, releases the base, and then resumes its original order – without its transport order status changing.
Energy Management
- Battery management has been extended with an idle threshold (comfort range) and the charging logic has been refined across multiple ranges (critical at less than or equal to 15 %, low 15-50 %, etc.): when idle, a vehicle in the low range drives off to charge, while in the critical range charging is enforced, or, if the charging station is occupied, the vehicle is parked and reported.
Evacuation Management
- Evacuation management for mobile robots has been implemented: as soon as the evacuation status is active, all mobile robots are driven to the nearest free evacuation location, whereby ongoing (loaded) transport orders are retained and only assigned transport orders are returned. Via a new configuration page under “Control system > Evacuation”, the options can be set and the evacuation status can be viewed and changed.
Signals
- The signal logic of the mobile robots has been aligned with the OPC UA and MQTT implementations: signal changes are cached and only forwarded upon an actual value change (or upon cache expiry), and different zones with the same feedback signal are now treated as separate sources.
- In the table of OPC UA signals, the server name is now displayed as a separate column. When editing, the server name is read-only; when duplicating via the copy function, a different server can be selected in the popup.
VDA5050
- In the mobile robot settings, the maximum number of nodes per VDA5050 order can now be limited. Rules such as NoHold, minimum base length, and keep-clear areas take precedence over this limit; if the maximum number of nodes cannot be observed as a result, an error is logged and the customer must adjust their customizing accordingly.
- The InitPosition InstantAction according to VDA5050 has been implemented, so that the position of a vehicle can be initialized via this standard action.
- The MQTT Explorer now additionally displays the instant actions sent from the control station to the robots and offers a free topic input field for displaying arbitrary signal topics.
- If a mobile robot starts a new order even though it is not positioned on its lastNodeId, a dynamic “allowed deviation” can now optionally be sent along on the first node (via the “Allow initialize position action” toggle). The value is calculated from the distance between the last node and the current position.
Product Settings
- For the customizing export, the mode “Transport” is now preselected by default instead of “Backup”, since it is needed more frequently and leads to fewer errors when imported accidentally.
- The “Operator” role (control station) can now log logged-in persons off directly from the resource table, instead of only having a read-only view – for example for interventions during shift changes.
- For API access, a read-only permission can now be granted, so that data can be read out for evaluation without write permissions posing a risk of data modification.
- The function for showing and hiding modules under “Settings > Modules” (forklift, tugger train, and mobile robot modules) has been removed entirely, as it was not needed. Modules that were previously hidden are thereby displayed again; customers who used this hiding feature should review the impact on their interface.
Bug Fixes
Dialogs
- If a transport order assigned in the dialog had in the meantime already been acknowledged, the operator could no longer navigate out of the dialog via “Back”. This has been fixed, so that the dialog can be exited again.
- After logging off from the mobile dialogs, the operator is, upon logging back in, taken to the dialog they last used instead of to the transport order overview; users with additional permissions are asked where they would like to go.
- A truncated note text can now also be displayed in full in a popup by clicking on it in the table view of the “Drive transport order with list” dialog.
- When a dialog is opened in a popup, the state of the transport orders shown in the button now updates automatically and no longer only after a key press.
Order Management
- If a transport order that cannot be driven by the logged-in resource type according to the path network is selected in the “Add another transport order” dialog, a corresponding error message is now displayed.
- For chains with the “Adopted from trigger” setting (source/destination location), the concrete, explicit location of the triggering transport order is now adopted into the successor for generic wildcard locations, instead of the generic location.
Layout Editor
- Selecting multiple edges in large path networks no longer causes the application to freeze.
- The size restriction between layout and LIF has been lifted: a LIF can now also be imported when it is oriented differently or is slightly larger than the layout, without having to cumbersomely adjust and reset the map scaling.
Traffic Management
- A permanent deadlock between two mobile robots is now resolved: the losing robot releases the first edge of its evasion path again and starts the evasion movement, so that the other robot can pass.
- A livelock between two mobile robots in front of a dead end is now avoided: the evasion marker is retained between processing cycles and the evading robot waits at the evasion node instead of driving beyond it.
Energy Management
- A stopCharging action is no longer lost on the next order update: the order update that releases further nodes is only sent after the stopCharging action at the first node has been completed. Affects mobile robots controlled via VDA5050.
SAP
- When acknowledging a product warehouse task via RFUI in EWM (acknowledge on resource), the associated FG4 order is now acknowledged as well, so that EWM and FlexGuide are in sync again.
- An outdated, misleading error message when receiving more than 100 orders with the same “last change timestamp” from SAP EWM is no longer displayed.