Experience our latest innovations at LogiMAT from March 11-13, 2025 in Hall 8 Booth 8F25

image brand NODE-flow

Increase fleet performance and autonomy with hybrid navigation, lane-based path planning, and rule-based traffic coordination for AGVs and AMRs.

 




Autonomous mobile robot navigation plays a significant role in many industries, but effective traffic coordination and avoiding deadlocks remain critical challenges. The new NODE.flow addresses these issues by introducing a hybrid navigation system that combines structured, rule-based movement with adaptive, lane-based routing, enabling a new type of traffic management.

NODE.flow enables robots to follow predefined software-defined roads and lanes while dynamically adjusting their paths in response to obstacles and real-time traffic conditions. This approach ensures deterministic yet flexible navigation, preventing unnecessary detours while maintaining structured flow. 

By integrating the cooperative path planning and the hybrid navigation of NODE.move, NODE.flow ensures that robots can efficiently navigate, avoid collisions and optimize traffic coordination within a fleet, while maintaining the appropriate level of autonomy for each application. This system reduces the likelihood of deadlocks, improves overall fleet efficiency and enables scalable, high-performance operations in dynamic industrial environments.

Advantages of NODE.flow

Hybrid Navigation

The system combines structured, rule-based AGV movement with adaptive AMR capabilities, enabling predictable yet flexible navigation without rigid infrastructure constraints. 

Lane-Based Coordination

The system replaces traditional fixed paths with software-defined roads and lanes, ensuring deterministic routing while allowing real-time obstacle avoidance within predefined boundaries. 

Scalable Autonomy

The system allows autonomous functions to be selectively enabled or restricted, ensuring optimized navigation in structured areas while maintaining flexibility where needed. 

FAQ

  • How are obstacles handled and collisions prevented?

      NODE.flow uses a structured yet adaptive navigation approach based on software-defined roads and lane-based movement. Vehicles follow predefined paths but can dynamically adjust their route within lane boundaries to bypass obstacles without disrupting overall flow. 

      Unlike purely reactive systems, NODE.flow incorporates cooperative path planning, ensuring that vehicles do not enter the same space simultaneously. This prevents deadlocks and enables smooth, congestion-free operations, even in high-traffic environments.

       

  • How can flexibility and efficiency be balanced in production?

      Full autonomy maximizes flexibility but often reduces efficiency, especially in highly dynamic environments with frequent disturbances. NODE.flow provides a hybrid approach, allowing AMRs to operate autonomously where needed while following structured, rule-based navigation in areas that require predictable, high-throughput movement. 

      With this hybrid navigation, NODE.flow allows autonomous functions to be selectively enabled or restricted based on operational needs. This ensures that robots can adapt dynamically while maintaining optimized traffic flow where structure is required. By defining navigation behavior in advance, NODE.flow ensures controlled, efficient movement where necessary and adaptability where beneficial. 

       

NODE Robotics GmbH

ARENA2036
Pfaffenwaldring 19
70569 Stuttgart
Germany