Aut

omat
edGui
dedVehi
cles
Someti
mescal l
ed self-
gui
ded v
ehicl
esoraut onomousgui ded vehi
cles,automated
gui
ded vehi
cles(AGVs)ar emateri
alhandli
ng systemsorl oad car
ri
er sthattravel
aut
onomouslythroughoutawarehouse,di
stri
buti
oncent er,ormanufact ur
ingfacil
i
ty,
wit
houtanonboardoper at
orordri
ver.Inthi
spost ,we’l
lexplorethevarioustypesof
AGVs,t
hemeani ngofthem,howtheyworkandtheirbenefi
ts.

Appl
icat
ionsf
orAGVs
Aut omatedguidedvehi
clesy
stemsar
eusedfort
asksthatwoul
dtypi
cal
l
ybehandl
edby
forkli
ft
s,conveyorsyst
emsormanualcarts,movinglargevol
umesofmateri
alina
repetit
ivemanner.

AGVsar eusedi nav ari

etyofappl icat
ions.They’
reoftenusedf ort r
ansporti
ngr aw
materi
alssuchasmet al
,plasti
c,r
ubberorpaper .Forexample,AGVscant ransportraw
materi
alsfrom recei
vingtot hewar ehouseordel i
vermat er
ial
sdirectl
ytopr oduct
ion
l
ines.AGVsconsi st
entl
yand r el
iablydel i
verraw material
sneeded wi t
houthuman
i
nterv
ention,ensur
ingthatproducti
onl i
nesalwayshavet hemateri
alstheyneedwi t
hout
i
nterr
upti
on.

Inaddi t
iontot ranspor t i
ngrawmat eri
als,AGVsar eusedinwor k-i
n-processappl i
cations
andwi t
hf i
nishedgoodst osuppor tpr oductionormanuf acturi
ngl i
nes.Accor dingt o
I
nv estopedi
a, thet erm wor k-i
n-processdescr ibes“ part
ial
lycompl et
edgoods, whichar e
typical
lytur
nedf rom r awmat erialtof i
nishedpr oducti nashor tperiodoft ime,”suchas
manuf actur
edgoods.I nwor k-in-processappl i
cat i
ons,AGVsmov emat eri
alsorpar ts
from thewar ehouset opr oduct ionl i
nesorf rom onewor kstati
ontoanot her,prov i
ding
repetit
iveandef ficientmov ementofmat erialst hroughoutthemanuf acturingpr ocess.
Wi t
houtAGVs, manuf acturi
ngpr ocessesmaycomet oahal twhenpr ocessi ngl i
nesr un
outofmat erials.Manuf acturi
ngi sthendel ayedwhi l
eahumanwor kerr et
rievest he
necessar ymat erialsf rom storageandt ranspor tsthem tothepr oductionline.

AGVsar ealsousedi ninboundandout boundhandl ingforreplenishmentandf orpicking.

Forexampl e,AGVsmaybeusedt ot r
anspor tinventoryfrom r eceivi
ngt o st orage
l
ocat i
onsorf r
om l ong-ter
m st or
agel ocationst oforwardpickingl ocationst or epl
enish
stock.Movingi nventoryfrom long-term st oragetof orwardpi ckinglocationsensur es
thatadequateinventoryisaccessibletopi cker s,makingtheor derpickingpr ocessmor e
effi
cient
.AGVssuchascol laborati
vemobi lerobotsassistint hepi ckingpr ocessby
guidi
ng war ehouse associ ates through t asks and transpor t
ing picked or derst o
packagingandshi ppingwor kstat
ions.
Ty
pesofAut
omat
edGui
dedVehi
cles

Therear esever
altypesofautomatedgui
dedvehi
cles.ManyAGVsar esi
mil
artoot
her
human- oper
atedvehicl
esbutaredesi
gnedtooper
atewithoutdi
recthumanint
erv
ent
ion
orguidance

Aut
omat
edGui
dedCar
ts

Anaut omat i
cgui dedcar t(AGC)isthemostbasi ct y
peofAGVwi thmini
malf eat
ures.
Navigationsy st
emscanr angefrom systemsassi mpleasmagneti
ctapetocompl ex,
sensor-basednav igat
ionsy stemsthatuseAIt onavi
gatet
hei
renvir
onment.Theycan
tr
anspor tav ari
etyofmat erial
s,f
rom smal lpartst
oloadedpal
l
ets,
andareoftenusedin
sort
ing,storage,andcr oss-docki
ngapplications.

OneexampleofanAGCi sanaut omatedhospi t

alcarttr
ansporter
,usedtoeffi
cientl
y
tr
anspor
tcompactloadsthroughoutahospi t
al,suchasmeal sandempt yf
oodt rays,
cl
eanorsoil
edli
nens,bi
ohazardwast eorsteri
lesuppli
es.Withouttheneedforast aff
membert o manual
lypush the cartfrom place to pl
ace,automated hospi
talcar t
tr
anspor
ter
scanhelptoreducelaborcosts.

For
kli
ftAGVs

For
kvehi
cles,orforkl
i
ftautomati
cguidedv ehicl
es,areanot
hercommonl yusedtypeof
AGV.They’r
e designed to per
form the same f uncti
ons a human-oper
ated f
orkl
i
ft
per
for
ms(transport
ingpall
ets)
,butwi
thoutt heneedforahumanoper ator
.

Towi
ngAGVs

Towingv ehi
cles,ortuggeraut omati
cguidedv ehicles,pulloneormor enon-
power ed,
l
oad-carry
ingvehicl
esbehi ndthem i
nat r
ain-l
ikef ormation.Sometimescal
leddr
iverl
ess
tr
ains,poweredtowingv ehicl
estrav
elonwheel s.Tuggeraut omaticgui
dedvehi
clesare
oft
enusedf ort r
ansport
ingheav yloadsov erlongerdi stances.Theymayhavesev eral
dr
op-
offandpi
ck-
upst
opsal
ongadef
inedpat
hthr
oughawar
ehouseorf
act
ory
.

Uni
tLoadHandl
ers

Uni
tloadhandlerscarr
ydiscret
eloadssuchasindi
vi
dualobj
ect
s,orasi
ngl
euni
tsuch
asapall
etortotethatcont
ainsmulti
plei
tems.

Heav
yBur
denCar
ri
ers

Fortheheav i
estl
oads,heavyburdencarr
ier
sareatypeofAGVusedi nappli
cati
ons
suchasl argeassembly,cast
ingandcoi landpl
atetransport
.Someheav yburden
carri
ershav
eself-
loadi
ngcapabil
i
tiesandmayhavestandard,pi
votoromni
-di
rect
ional
steeri
ng.

Aut
onomousMobi
l
eRobot
s

Autonomousmobi l
er obots( AMRs)ar et ypi
call
ymor et echnol
ogical
lyadvancedt han
othertypesofAGVs.Whi lemanyAGVsusef ixednav i
gationsystems,suchaswi r
esor
magnetictape,manyAMRsar eequippedwi thintel
l
igentnav i
gati
oncapabil
it
iessuchas
sensorsandcamer asy stemst hatenablethem todetectandnav i
gatearoundobstacles.
Thankst omoresophist i
catedtechnology,AMRscandy nami cal
l
ynav i
gateawarehouse
orotherfaci
li
tyandplant hemostef fi
cientpaths.

HowAGVswor
k

AGVsareself
-propel
ledvehi
cleswi
thmov ementguidedbysoft
war
eandsensor
s.Most
AGVsmov eal ongdef i
nedpathways,butasment i
oned,AMRstypi
cal
l
yhavemor e
adv
ancedtechnologywithdy
namicnavigati
oncapabil
it
ies.

AGVnav
igat
ion
AGVnav
igat
ionmaybegui
dedusi
ngoneormor
eoft
hef
oll
owi
ngmechani
sms:
Magnet
icgui
detape— someAGVshav
emagnet
icsensor
sandf
oll
ow at
rackusi
ng
magnet
ict
ape.

Wi
rednavi
gati
on— someAGVsf ol
lowwi r
epathsembeddedi nt
ot hef
aci
l
ityf
loor
.The
wi
retr
ansmit
sasi
gnalthatAGVsdetectv
iaanantennaorsensor.

Lasertargetnavi
gati
on—wi ththismet hod,r
eflecti
vetapei
smount edonobj ect
ssuch
aswal l
s,fixedmachinesandpol es.AGVsar eequippedwithal asert
ransmitt
erand
recei
ver.Thelaser
sreflectoffofthet apewithi
nt heli
neofsightandusedt ocalcul
ate
theobject’
sangleanddistancefrom theAGV.

I
nerti
al(gyr
oscopic)navi
gat
ion—someAGVsarecontr
oll
edbyacomputersy
stem wi
th
theaidoftranspondersembeddedi
ntot
hef
aci
l
ityfl
oortover
if
ythatt
heAGVi sonthe
propercour
se.

Visi
onguidance— Nomodifi
cati
onisrequir
edtotheinf
rast
ructureforvi
sion-
gui
ded
AGVs.Camer asrecor
dthef
eatur
esal
ongt herout
e,andAGVsr elyontheserecor
ded
feat
urest
onav i
gate.

Geoguidance— Li
kev i
sion-guidedAGVs,noi nf
rast
ruct
uremodi fi
cat
ionsarer equi
red
for AGVs that use geogui dance.Geoguided AGVs r ecogni
ze object
si nt hei
r
envi
ronmenttoestabl
i
sht heirlocat
ioni
nreal
-t
imetonavigatethr
oughoutthefacil
it
y.

LiDAR— Li DAR( LightDet ecti

onandRangi ng)i
sasophi sti
catednavigationtechnology
util
i
zingsensorst hatt ransmitlaserpulsest omeasurethedistancebet weent herobot
andobj ect
sinitsenv ironment.Thi sdataiscompi l
edtocreatea360-degr eemapoft he
environment,all
owi ngr obotstonav i
gatet hefaci
li
tyandav oidobstacleswi thoutthe
need f orany addi t
ionali nf
rastruct
ure.6 Ri verSy st
ems uses Li DAR nav igat
ion
technologytoenabl et heirAGVst onav i
gateawar ehousewithoutrequiringchangest o
i
nf r
astruct
ure as wel las t o adaptt o new env i
ronments shoul
dt he layoutofa
war ehousefl
oorchange.

AGVst
eer
ing
AGV steeri
ngiscontr
oll
edbydi
ff
erent
ialspeedcont
rol
,st
eer
edwheelcont
rolora
combinati
onofthet
wo:

Di
ffer
ent
ialspeedcont r
ol—Thisisthemostcommont y
peofsteeri
ngcontr
olusedby
AGVs.Di
ffer
entialspeedcont
rol
usestwoindependentdr
ivewheel
s.Eachdr
ivewheel
is
dr
ivenatadi ff
erentspeedtoturn.Togof orwardorbackwards,thetwodri
vesare
dri
venatt hesamespeed.Thesi mpleststeeringcontrolopt
ionforAGVs,dif
ferent
ial
speed controldoesn’
trequire addi
ti
onalst eer
ing motors ormechanisms.I tis
commonl yusedf orAGVsthatoperat
eint ightspacesorf orthosethatoper
atenear
machines.Itisnotusedfortowi
ngappl i
cations,asitcancauseat rai
lert
ojackkni
fe
whil
eturni
ng.

Steeredwheelcontr
ol—Thi stypeofsteer
ingcontroli
ssi
mil
artothest eeri
ngcontr
olin
acarort ruck.Insteeredwheelcont r
ol,thedriv
ewheelistheturningwheel .St
eered
wheelcont r
oli smor epr eci
set handiff
erent
ialspeedcontr
olandof fer
ssmoot her
turni
ng.I
tisoftenusedf ortowingappl
icat
ionsandmayalsobeoper ator-
contr
oll
ed.

Combinati
onst eer
ing—Thi sisacombi nati
onofdiffer
enti
alspeedcontrolandst
eered
wheelcontrol.AGVsusi ng combinat
ionst eer
ing havetwo independentsteer
/dri
ve
motorsondiagonalcor nersoftheAGVandswi vel
ingcastor
sont heothertwocorners.
AGVsusingcombi nat
ionst eer
ingcant urninanydirect
ionli
keacarandal sodri
vein
di
ff
erenti
alsteeri
ngmodei nanydir
ecti
on.

AGVt
raf
fi
ccont
rol
Tr
aff
iccont
rol
measur
esi
ncl
udezonecont
rol
,col
l
isi
onav
oidanceorami
xofbot
h:

Zonecont rol—Si mplet oinstal

landeasyt oexpand,zonecont roli sacommonl yused
traffi
ccont rolmet hodf orAGVs.A wi r
elesst r
ansmi t
tert r
ansmi tssi gnal
si ndefined
areas,andt heAGVcont ainsasensort hatreceivesthesi gnalandt r
ansmitsitbackt o
thet ransmi t
ter.Ifthear eaisclear,a“cl
ear”signalissentt hatal l
owst heAGVt oenter
orpasst hrought hear ea.IfanotherAGVi sinthearea,a“ stop”si gnali ssentthatal
erts
otherAGVsat tempt i
ngt oenterthattheareaisnotcl ear.Int hi
scase, thewaitingAGVs
wi l
lstopandwai tuntilthefir
stAGVmov esoutoft hezoneanda“ cl
ear”signalissent
byt het r
ansmi tter.Anotherwayzonecont r
olcanbeusedi sbyequi ppingeachAGVwi th
i
ts own t ransmi tter
,al lowi
ng itt o send a “do notent er”si gnalt o otherAGVs
appr oachingt hezone.

Coll
isi
onav oi
dance— AGVsusi ngcol l
i
sionavoidancezonecont r
olareequi ppedwi th
sensorsthattr
ansmitasi
gnalandwai tforareplyt
odet ermineifanobjecti sinfrontof
i
t.Thesesensor smaybesoni c,whichwor kli
ker adar,oropti
cal,whichusesi nfr
ared
sensors.Bothworkinasimil
armanner .Bumpersensor sar eanothert y
peofcol lisi
on
avoi
dance sensor.ManyAGVs ar e equipped with bumpersensor s as a fail
-safe.
Bumpersensor sst
optoavoi
dacol l
isionwhent heysensephy si
cal contact.

Combinat
ioncontrol— AGVsthatusecombi nat
ioncont
rolareequippedwi t
hbot h
col
l
isoncontr
olsensor
sandzonecontr
olsensorsi
nordert
ooffermorerobustcoll
i
sion
prev
enti
oninallsituat
ions.Forinst
ance,anAGVmayusezonecont rolasi
tspr
imar
y
tr
aff
iccontr
olsystem butalsohavecol
li
sionav
oidancesensor
sasabackupi
ncaset
he
zonecontr
olsystem malfunct
ions.

Benef
it
sofAGVs
AGVsof
fernumer
ousbenef
it
sinwar
ehousi
ngandmanuf
act
uri
ng.

I
ncr
easeef
fi
ciencyandpr
oduct
ivi
ty

Becauset heyoper ateautonomousl y,AGVsi ncreaseeffi

ciencyandpr oducti
v i
ty,and
they’r
epredictableandreli
ableforr epet
it
ivetasks.AGVselimi nateunnecessar ywal king
andal soeli
mi natethephy si
callaboroft r
ansporti
ngmat erials.Theysett hepacef or
wor ker
s,aswel l
,keepingassoci ateson- t
ask.AGVsl i
kecol labor at
ivemobiler obot s
guideassoci atesthrougheacht ask,reducinghumaner ror,whi chhelpst oi mpr ove
orderaccuracyandmi nimizelossandmi spl
acedpr oduct
s.Byl everagi
ngAItoopt imi ze
routesandpr iori
ti
zework,coll
abor ati
vemobi l
erobotsimprov er esourceuti
li
zation.

Consi
stentcost
s

AGVsar etypi
cal
lyacqui
redonaperuni
torperrent
alper
iodcostbasi
s,sot
her
e’sl
ess
fl
uctuati
onincostscomparedtohumanlabor,whi
chcanf l
uctuat
ebasedonmarket
condit
ionsanddemand.

Fl
exi
bil
i
ty

SomeAGVsof fert
hef l
exibi
li
tyofeasi
lychangingr outes(
comparedtootherswhi
ch
requi
rer e-
rout
ing guide wir
es orotherinf
rastructureto adj
usta v
ehicl
e’srout
e).
Automatedgui dedv ehi
clesareascalablesolution,aswel l
,wit
htheabili
tytoadd
addit
ionaluni
tsbasedondemand.

Lessspacer
equi
red

Compar edtoot
heraut
omat i
onsolut
ions,suchasconv eyorsyst
ems, AGVsrequirel
ess
space.SomeAGVsar esmallercomparedtotradi
ti
onalwar ehouseequipment,suchas
for
kli
ft
s, whi
chal
lowsforf
loorlay
out
swi t
hnar r
oweraislesandbetterspaceut
ili
zati
on.

I
mpr
ovedsaf
ety

Fi
nal
ly,AGVsar easaf eautomati
onsoluti
onforwar ehouses,di
str
ibuti
oncent er
sand
manufactur
ingfacil
it
ies.AGVsareequippedwithsensorstoav oi
dcolli
sions.Advanced
AGVsl i
keAMRshav ei nt
ell
i
gentrout
ingcapabil
it
iesthatenablet
hem topl anthemost
ef
fi
cientpaththroughawar ehouseorfaci
li
ty,r
educingaisl
econgestionandpr eventi
ng
i
njur
ies.

Automat edgui dedv ehi

clesareuniquel
ydesi gnedtoaut omat etasksforwhi chhumans
arenotnecessar y.Theyautomat elongwalksi nwar ehouses,setthepacef orworker
s,
andel i
mi natethephy si
calri
gorsofat radi
ti
onallyphy si
cal
lydemandi ngjob.Chuckby6
RiverSy stemsi saf l
exibl
e,scalabl
eandcost -ef
fectiv
esol uti
onf orwar ehousesand
di
st ri
buti
on cent ers offer
ing innovat
ivet echnology designed t ot ackle some of
war ehousing’sbiggestchall
enges.