New software from Formic enables robotics without training

The Chicago-based RaaS provider has launched software to make robot-based manufacturing available to companies without in-house expertise.

Formic Technologies, a Robotics-as-a-Service automation company in Chicago, has released a software suite of software tools to accelerate and simplify the deployment of robotic automation systems for businesses with no internal expertise.

The Core operating system makes working with robotic automation solutions as easy as using a smartphone, Apple CarPlay, or Netflix. Using the multilanguage touchscreen UI, workers with no advanced training can program and operate Formic robots.

The software transforms the robot into a “smart system” capable of automatically adjusting to new obstacles in the vicinity of the robot, connecting to any new peripherals, and monitoring sensor data, production rates, uptime, cycle times and more.

All of the process information captured by Formic Core feeds into the Formic Colony 2.0 performance dashboard.

This command center software monitors total system performance and uses AI to analyze the data coming from all robots, enabling predictive analysis of anomalies and preventative operations to minimize downtime.

Formic’s technicians can use this data and the remote system access provided by the new software to resolve issues from a distance, enabling a swift return to production should any stoppages occur.

While the Formic Colony toolkit is primarily leveraged by the Formic operations team to service customer deployments, it is also available for larger businesses to use internally with more advanced teams responsible for automation systems in multiple locations.