Robot path planner cuts workcell design times from months to days
13 May 2025 
A US specialist in automated collision-free motion planning, control and optimisation for robots, has launched a cloud-based technology that, it claims, will cut workcell design times from months to days. Boston-based Realtime Robotics says that its Resolver system will halve engineering effort, reduce workcell cycle times, and increase throughput.
Robot path planning is traditionally a complex and time-consuming process. In most workcells, there are multiple robots, requiring tedious manual effort to determine interference zones and interlock signals to ensure that there are no collisions during manufacturing processes.
Manually validating the mechanical design, planning robot paths, determining sequencing to hit optimal cycle time targets, and defining those interlocks, can take teams well over 100,000 hours for a single project, according to Realtime Robotics. Due to its complex nature, this often leads to failure to hit targets, requiring expensive rework for around 10-15% of workcells.
The Resolver system works by intelligently selecting and testing potential solutions tens to thousands of times faster than any human programmer, quickly generating optimal, collision-free motion paths and interlock signals. Organisations can discover the fastest target order automatically, accelerating their workcell designs dramatically.
The technology provides affordable, on-demand, scalable robotic simulation that can cut the time needed to:
- generate accurate proposals
- design optimal tools and fixtures that support cycle time goals
- produce optimal robot programs
- adjust for as-built deviations during commissioning
- assess and minimise the impact of product design changes in the manufacturing phase
“The future of the manufacturing industry lies in robotics and automation. However, that future is slow to materialise because of the outdated, time-consuming, and inefficient processes commonplace in the industry,” says Realtime Robotics’ CEO, Peter Howard. “Few manufacturers have the time or resources needed to enact real change. We’ve engineered Resolver to help manufacturers improve their engineering, programming and production processes – and drive greater value from their current and future investments in robots.
“Resolver has the computational power to generate better motion paths than human programmers in both simple and complex workcells,” he adds. “This is because Resolver searches the possibilities open to robotic arms, while humans tend to stay within the possibilities of the human arm.”
The platform supports path planning with any number of robots, at any phase of the workflow, generating results in minutes. Currently, it allows users to work in Siemens Process Simulate. Support for other simulation platforms will be rolled out later in the year, allowing teams to work with their preferred simulation tools.
Organisations only need to upload the workcell information into a new project, configure their sequencing and conditions, and execute a run. Within minutes, Resolver generates motion paths, including interlocks. The longer it operates, the more options it offers, shortening the cycle time until the desired outcome is reached. The paths and interlocks can then be imported back into the simulation software for validation and operation.
“Resolver eliminates the most time-consuming aspects of industrial robotics – the programming and optimisation of the robots,” says Marco Bizjak, head of the Competence Centre Digital Factory at the German production technology specialist, FFT Produktionsysteme. “What used to take months to accomplish can now be measured in hours. We believe this can be a real competitive advantage as we strive to help our customers establish the most efficient and effective manufacturing processes possible.”
Resolver can be used at any point in the project lifecycle, from proposals to workcell designs. It can accelerate project timelines by generating collision-free motion paths and enabling more accurate estimates of cycle times, allowing organisations to outbid their rivals. It also shortens the design phase by streamlining manual path planning into simple steps, defining interlock signals automatically, and reducing mechanical design iterations.
The system can also help with fixture design, reachability validation, target sequencing, and robot task allocation. It can be used to design paths and interlocks for entire manufacturing lines, giving organisations views of their entire operations. Optimisation can be achieved at an early stage, so more time can be spent on less tedious tasks.
