Schaeffler’s Autonomous Mobile Robot DEX awarded with “Red Dot: Best of the Best”

Schaeffler awarded Red Dot: Best of the Best award for its Autonomous Mobile Robot project under the Red Dot Design Concept category

The project was also nominated for the Red Dot: Luminary

DEX was conceptualized as a research testbed to drive new production and service concepts based on intelligent technologies for a high degree of digitalization and automatization

Schaeffler is planning on a research pilot run to utilize DEX for its production plants to optimize its productions operations

Schaeffler, a leading global automotive and industrial supplier, was recently awarded the Red Dot: Best of the Best award for its Dual EXtendable (DEX), the Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) project in the Red Dot Design Award under the Design Concept category.

DEX was designed to reimagine the dexterity and intelligence of autonomous mobile robot (AMR) platforms and their collaboration with shopfloor employees. Featuring bi-directional leg extensions, WLAN and middleware integration, 2D/3D SLAM-based precise localization, as well as speech and gesture recognition capabilities, DEX serves as a research testbed to infuse functionality with smart social behaviors to support and boost productivity in industrial settings for a wide range of tasks.

Commenting on the award, Mr. Han Boon Siew, Chief Information Officer Schaeffler Asia/Pacific, Director at Schaeffler Hub for Advanced Research, said: “Being awarded the Best of the Best award for DEX from one of the most prestigious awards is testament to our continuous passion and commitment in developing cutting edge solutions to drive new possibilities for mobility and motion – both with our customers and for our production operations.”

The research project is part of Schaeffler’s Schaeffler Hub for Advanced Research (SHARE) program that comprises a global research network with leading universities worldwide via its company-on-campus concept. The concept enables particularly intensive exchange and close cooperation between Schaeffler employees, scientists and academics through applied research to expand the current state of technology and transfer research insights into product development activities.

DEX was also designed in collaboration with Orcadesign Consultants Pte. Ltd., who worked closely with the SHARE at NTU technology team to visualize the concept and vision of DEX while integrating their insights and expertise in defining the user experience that included the robot’s form and touchpoints.

“At Schaeffler, we see collaboration as key to the strategic development of components and technologies in meeting the demands of future-oriented trends in the automotive and industrial sectors. With the SHARE program, we look to bridge our components and system expertise with the technology competence of academic institutes and industry experts to enhance our technological and methodical capabilities,” Mr. Han added.

To appraise the broad scope of design professionally, the Red Dot Design Award has three distinct disciplines: the Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. The Red Dot Award is organized by the Design-Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany, and is one of the largest design competitions in the world.

In 2021, Schaeffler received the Red Dot Design Award in the “Smart Product” and “Industrial Design” categories for its OPTIME condition monitoring solution. The plug-and-play solution, which allows for comprehensive condition monitoring that is both easy and affordable, enables industry players to quickly and conveniently plan their long-term maintenance, manpower or spare-parts requirements in a matter of hours.

The Red Dot award ceremony will be held on September 27, 2022, where members of the industry will come together to celebrate the award winners’ success and outstanding achievements.

About Red Dot Award: Design Concept
In 2005, the Red Dot Design Award recognized the need to identify and celebrate new design concept and innovation, the precursor of tomorrow’s great product. Believing a design concept must be evaluated based on its design merit without prejudice, the award created an unprecedented platform that accepts entries from companies to design students. Today, the Red Dot Award for design concept has grown to be the largest and most recognized professional design competition for design concept and prototypes worldwide.

About the Red Dot Design Award
In order to appraise the wide scope of design in a professional manner, the Red Dot Design Award have three distinct disciplines: the Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. The Red Dot Award is organized by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany, and is one of the largest design competitions in the world. In 1955, a jury convened for the first time to assess the best designs of the day. The name and brand of the award were developed in the 1990s by Red Dot CEO, Professor Dr. Peter Zec. Since then the Red Dot is the revered international seal of outstanding design quality.