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About:
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Automatic Guided Vehicles
Computer-controlled and wheel-based, automatic guided vehicles (AGV) are load carriers that travel along the floor of a facility without an onboard operator or driver. Their movement is directed by a combination of software and sensor-based guidance systems. Because they move on a predictable path with precisely controlled acceleration and deceleration and include automatic obstacle detection bumpers, AGV ;provides safe movement of loads. Typical AGV applications include transportation of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods in support of manufacturing production lines, and storage/retrieval or other movements in support of picking in warehousing and distribution applications.
What Is an Automatic Guided Vehicle?
There are several types of AGVs. These include:
Automated carts - The simplest kind of AGV with minimal features for the lowest cost implementation.
Unit load AGVs - Individual vehicles that transport loads (typically pallets, bins, carts, or bundles) on forks or on the AGV's deck. Roll-handling AGVs specifically handle heavy rolls of steel or paper.
Tugger AGVs – Powered units pulling a series of non-motorized trailers that each carries a load.
Automated forklift AGVs - An existing forklift truck whose controls have been converted to allow unmanned operation
Typically battery-powered, AGV systems consist of multiple vehicles that navigate along pre-defined guide paths. Vehicles navigate in the facility using several guidance technologies including floor-surface mounted magnetic tape or bars, lasers, optical sensors, and magnet/gyroscope-based inertial guidance. These guidance technologies make it easy to change the routes and expand the AGV system in response to facility changes for a flexible and scalable material handling solution.
For real-time control and monitoring of multiple AGVs, computer-based software uses wireless connections to collect data about each unit’s current location, then interfaces with software for destination and routing logic. The software directs the vehicles' travel by wirelessly communicating specific tasks to the AGVs via radio frequency (RF). Instructions include stops, starts, changing speed, lifting, lowering, multi-point turns, reverses, diverging from the guide path, and interfacing with other material handling equipment and systems—both automated and static.
What Is a Laser Guided Vehicle
If you're searching for a fast, accurate, and reliable alternative to regular automated guided vehicles (AGVs), you may want to consider upgrading to laser-guided vehicles (LGVs). LGVs are a type of AGV that is equipped with a Laser Navigation Triangulation system, the same type of navigation technology that’s commonly used in automated forklifts. This means they navigate using a laser positioning system, unlike older iterations of AGVs, which usually rely on a sensor or software-based guidance system. Laser Guide AGVs
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