Robotique Occitane ROC-E AIV | Digest but naturally, some customers must have some kind of remote connection.” The 400 MHz radio is built around a LoRa (Long-Range) modem and provides a slow, low-bandwidth connection into a dedicated mission computer (or application CPU) separate from the main computer. It is sufficient for transmitting simple, high-level commands to ROC-E, which the robot’s own intelligence can then break down into the low-level steps needed for execution. “It’s around 1 kb/s, so it’s very slow, and doesn’t handle a lot of data – just enough to receive high-level commands like ‘come here’, and to periodically update its position and health for a fleet management system,” Dehlinger says. “That’s a very deliberate choice for cybersecurity. Hostile agents cannot extract camera feeds, issue complex commands or push any significant malware into the robot because the bandwidth and level of access just aren’t there. By maximising ROC-E’s onboard intelligence and minimising the need for detailed teleoperations, we avoid having to extensively network the robot and give hackers an easy pathway into it.” All electronics are sealed in a cryptographic case and communications are also encrypted, and remotely altering the robot’s program midmission requires entering security keys. WebSocket is the typical protocol used for comms, enabling interfacing and security to be programmed as needed using libraries in C++, C, HTML, Javascript and other languages. “The robot architecture is also arranged such that remote commands cannot go directly into the subsystems – they first go via a secure microcontroller, preventing a direct bridge from the radio to the main CPU or application CPU,” Dehlinger explains. “And the remote commands are not so much explicit orders but ‘indices’ or sets of orders that the radio’s microcontroller cannot unpack by itself. It’d receive something like ‘400’ from the radio, and then the main computer would understand whether that’s a battery settings change or waypoint coordinates to go to – whatever the end-user requires. “So, it’s very hard for any hackers to know how to send any specific orders to the robot in the first place. They’d need to break into a customer’s factory, plug into the robot, hack the encryption and know the robot’s APIs to be able to modify something or understand the index library.” RobOcc also develops and supplies its own fleet management software – principally for real-time supervision rather than micromanagement – as well as optional remote peripherals such as buttons or panels for triggering simple functions such as coming to the button’s location, or commencing an end-of-day duty such as emptying all of an office’s wastepaper bins. “We can also supply peripheral triggers for installation throughout customer facilities that enable ROC-E to wirelessly interact with automatic doors, secure doors, elevators and so on, again secured outside of the important CPUs and subsystems,” Dehlinger adds. “Those can also be installed on other machines or robots for them to autonomously call a ROC-E to collect something, like a finished product off an automated line, without an IT connection. No modifications on ROC-E are needed for any of that; its autonomy stack already accounts for such behaviours. So, making the robot as intelligent as possible has really helped keep things simple from a supply point of view.” Going forwards There was a time, in the course of its r&d that RobOcc considered developing humanoid robots rather than the wheeled system at the heart of its business today. However, in addition to the greater engineering challenge this poses, an even more severe problem of acceptance stayed the company’s hand: Dehlinger and his team anticipate it will be some time before people cease to find humanoid robots unnerving and reach the point that they will happily work alongside them. For now, RobOcc plans to continue steady production of its ROC-E AIVs for its customers, as well as r&d into worthwhile upgrades. 57 Uncrewed Systems Technology | August/September 2025 ROC-E Intralogistics UGV Fully autonomous Battery-electric Dimensions: 90 x 67 x 46 cm Empty weight: 60 kg Maximum payload weight: 100 kg Maximum speed: 0.8 m/s Maximum endurance: 10 hours Standard charging time: 2 hours Onboard energy storage: 1 kWh Maximum detection range: 120 m Some key suppliers Main computer: Intel Lidars: Pepperl+Fuchs Battery: TYVA Energie Customised payload modules: Usitech Payload electronics: Occion Key specifications RobOcc can provide wi-fi or low-bandwidth 400 MHz comms for ROC-E, although it emphasises that having no remote connection is the best means of cybersecurity
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mzk4