CEO Roland Busch: Leading Siemens Into Humanoid Automation
Roland Busch watched a humanoid robot stroll past him on Siemens' Erlangen factory floor and saw more than a demo. He saw a software-first path to flexible, lower-capex automation. The company is now running its SIMOVE ANS+ navigation software on humanoid robots inside live production-treating mobility as a strategic moat, not a bolt-on feature.
Why navigation intelligence now matters to strategy
Material movement has long been the silent bottleneck. SIMOVE ANS+ shifts that constraint from fixed infrastructure to software-defined control. For executives, the upside is clear: faster reconfiguration, lower installation overhead, and better utilization of the same square meters.
The result is a factory that can change layout without ripping up floors or pausing lines. In markets where demand is volatile and product variants spike, that flexibility translates into higher asset turns and fewer stranded investments.
Inside SIMOVE ANS+: how it works
The platform uses LiDAR-based SLAM for facility mapping and movement, identifying natural features-walls, pillars, and equipment-rather than relying on magnetic tape or guide wires. In zones that demand pinpoint accuracy, facilities can add reflectors to achieve approximately ±10 mm precision.
It runs on Siemens industrial PCs with Linux, fitting into existing automation stacks and easing maintenance for teams already familiar with Siemens PLC environments. Eliminating physical guidance systems reduces install time and long-term upkeep, especially where floor markers wear out or are impractical.
For background on SLAM fundamentals, see Simultaneous localization and mapping.
Two operating modes and digital control
- Virtual Line Tracking: Strict, software-defined routes for predictable, repeatable movement.
- Free Navigation: Autonomous pathfinding that computes optimal routes around obstacles.
- Dynamic obstacle response: Vehicles slow, stop, or re-route automatically when sensors detect interference.
Zone Engineering gives operations teams granular control without touching the floor.
- Speed zones: Throttle movement in sensitive areas.
- Keep-out zones: Protect equipment and temporary work cells.
- One-way zones: Manage flow in tight corridors.
When layouts change, updated maps deploy over the air. No physical rework, no scheduling downtime for tape and markers.
Proven on the floor: Tofaş, FFT, Porsche
Tofaş uses AGVs with SIMOVE ANS+ to move batteries, hitting exact stop points at robotic stations while moving omnidirectionally through tight cells. Precision meets throughput without reshaping the floor.
FFT Produktions built mobile inspection workstations on intelligent guided vehicles. Parts come to inspectors, not the other way around, and people share space safely with autonomous systems.
Porsche replaced rigid conveyors with AGV fleets at a multi-level urban site, reclaiming floor space and editing routes in software as production needs shift. This is layout agility without the capex drag.
Executive lens: value levers and trade-offs
- Capex and install: Remove tape/guide infrastructure; standardize on IPC + Linux to simplify support.
- Throughput per m²: Reclaim floor space, optimize routes digitally, and tune speed zones by shift.
- Changeover speed: Move from weeks of rework to hours of map updates.
- Integration: Leverage existing Siemens PLC/MES stacks for unified monitoring and control.
- Key KPIs: Re-route time after layout change; stop accuracy (mm); vehicle uptime; incident rate in mixed traffic; maintenance hours per vehicle per month.
- Risks to govern: Safety validation for mixed environments; cyber hardening of industrial PCs; change control for digital maps; workforce training and role redesign.
How to pilot in 90 days
- Pick one high-volume, predictable flow (e.g., battery packs, body-in-white parts, kits).
- Digitally map the area; add reflectors only where ±10 mm is mission-critical.
- Integrate with PLC/MES for signals, queues, and station handshakes.
- Define speed, keep-out, and one-way zones; set clear traffic rules for people and machines.
- Run shift-level trials; measure baseline vs. AGV metrics; iterate routes weekly.
- Codify safety, IT/OT security, and change-control before scaling to additional lines.
Where this points next
Humanoids and AMRs operating side by side hint at a software-defined factory floor: robots that move, queue, and adapt based on live constraints. The real differentiator isn't the hardware-it's the intelligence that directs it.
For leadership teams, the move is straightforward: treat mobility as a core system. Start with one use case, prove the economics, then scale by policy and software-not concrete and steel.
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