Free Roaming #

Free roaming is a feature that lets vehicles navigate outside predefined paths or stations. Meili FMS supports three types of free roaming settings:

1. Disabled: Vehicles only move by following the network of paths created in Meili FMS. If a robot with free roaming disabled is not on a station or path connected to other paths, it will not be considered for the allocated mission and the mission will be marked as “rerun.”
2. Aided: Lets robots move outside user-designed paths. The system sends waypoints so the robot can navigate to the station while avoiding obstacles. If a path network is available, the robot will follow it.
3. Basic: This is a “full free-roaming” option. The FMS sends only the goal coordinates to the AMR, leaving navigation including obstacle avoidance entirely to the robot. This applies even if the goal station is on the path network.

Enabling Free Roaming #

The free roaming setting is specific to each vehicle. To modify the free roaming setting of a vehicle:

1. Go to Team Site Settings.
2. Navigate to the Vehicles tab.
3. Select the vehicle you want to modify and click the Edit button.
4. In the General tab, scroll down to the Free roaming section.
5. Choose one of the options described above.
6. Click the Save button to apply the changes.

Use Cases #

Use Case 1: Traveling to a Station Outside the Current Path Network #

If a vehicle does not have free roaming enabled, it will not be able to reach a station that is not connected to the current path network. In this case, the vehicle will not be considered for the allocated mission and the mission will be marked as “rerun.”

If the vehicle has aided or basic free roaming enabled, it will be able to reach the station by leaving the current path network.

Use Case 2: Traveling to a Station Outside the Current Path Network With Obstacles in the Way #

Similar to the previous use case, if the vehicle does not have free roaming enabled, it will not be able to reach the station and the mission will not start.

However, in this scenario, aided and basic free roaming behave differently:

• With aided free roaming, the FMS sends waypoints to the vehicle to navigate around obstacles.

• With basic free roaming, the FMS sends only the goal coordinates to the vehicle, leaving the vehicle responsible for navigating around obstacles on its own.

Use Case 3: Traveling to a Station Inside the Current Path Network #

If a vehicle has free roaming disabled, it will reach the station by following the path network. Similarly, if the vehicle has aided free roaming enabled, it will also follow the path network to reach the station.

However, if the vehicle has basic free roaming enabled, it will not follow the path network and will navigate directly to the station using its own navigation system.