The trade association has published a supplementary document to the VDA 5050 communication interface (version 2.0.0), which can be used to transfer a standardized course layout from the vehicle to a third-party master control.
VDA 5050 provides a standardized protocol for communication between different mobile robots from different manufacturers and a master controller. It thus regulates the type of exchange of status and driving information, but not the information and form in which the underlying course layout is to be described and exchanged. Until now, this aspect has had to be clarified individually between the individual project partners when implementing projects with VDA 5050.
“The Layout Interchange Format – LIF for short – now offers a way of transmitting the vehicle information required for the connection to the master control system in a standardized data format. This ensures greater clarity and transparency between the project participants when implementing a heterogeneous fleet with VDA 5050,” says Wolfgang Hillinger, board member of the Mobile Robots department in the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association and Managing Director of DS Automotion GmbH.
LIF contains information on how the vehicle integrator’s vehicle can interact with its environment and navigate within a map layout. At the same time, this clear separation between the definition of the route layout and the tasks of the master control system ensures clearly defined responsibilities and roles in the project, thus facilitating implementation.
LIF uses the same terminology and largely the same structure as VDA 5050. The exchange format was developed with the cooperation of member companies in the Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association and represents a non-binding approach.