French shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique has added a second EffiBOT-T robotic tugger to its operations.

The new robot from Effidence, equipped with a newly developed automatic Hook-A+ hitch, can hook and unhook trailers without any manual intervention. 

Chantiers de l'Atlantique acquired its first EffiBOT autonomous mobile robot (AMR) four years ago to transport prefabricated bathrooms for ocean liners from the production line to the assembly line.

The EffiBOT-T reduced the number of tedious and repetitive journeys made by one operator, who was transferred to another higher-value role. 

This time the company wanted to reduce the distance covered by an operator. 

With the new AMR, trailers are filled by operators at the warehouse.

Once this task has been completed, an EffiBOT is summoned using a tablet customised for the process. 

The robot hooks and unhooks the trailer autonomously. 

Both EffiBOTs are connected to the EffiFCS fleet manager for mission management and activity supervision. The FCS is also connected to the call tablets to send mission orders to the robots. 

Effidence says the second project demonstrates Chantiers de l'Atlantique's trust in the company as well as the scalability of its robotics solutions.