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Automation systems help improve efficiency, safety, and productivity within warehouses. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) can carry loads throughout automated systems without drivers or operators. How do these unmanned vehicles navigate safely through warehouses? Innovative technology powers autonomous navigation and obstacle detection, enabling AGVs to transport loads precisely and consistently from point A to point B or point C. How exactly do vehicles work within AGV systems?
AGVs are essentially driverless forklifts. Like any other automation system, these vehicles help streamline operations by creating faster workflows and freeing up manual labor. When machines can carry loads through facilities without employees, workers can focus their time and energy on tasks requiring more skilled labor. Additionally, precise navigation systems allow AGVs to move safely through facilities, eliminating collisions or other safety issues caused by human error.
These advantages of AGVs make them valuable solutions for transporting materials and goods throughout production lines. AGVs are also well-suited for storage, retrieval, and picking tasks in distribution centers.
To understand how vehicles work in AGV systems, you must understand the navigation systems that power each vehicle. Automatically guided vehicles travel along predictable, routine paths, meaning they need navigation systems to help them follow those paths without encountering obstacles or barriers. To accomplish this, AGVs use various software and sensor-based systems to move precisely along their paths.
Laser navigation systems are the most popular and reliable form of AGV navigation technology. This system involves simply placing reflective targets at fixed known locations throughout the facility. As vehicles move across the entire warehouse floor, laser scanners atop the AGV continuously search for these reflective targets. Laser beams reflect off the targets and return to the vehicle's receiver. Then, the AGV uses control algorithms to accurately calculate the vehicle's position on the warehouse floor. The precision of laser measurement technology allows for extremely precise and repeatable operations, unaffected by changes in working environment conditions, creating a flexible and scalable solution that can continuously grow and adapt to future customer needs.
The goal of any AGV system is to perform the same tasks as manual forklifts. For these machines to be worth their investment, the technology behind them must be precise and reliable. Laser Guided Vehicles (LGVs) provide your facility with optimal accuracy, flexibility, safety, and speed.
The use of reflective targets enables LGVs to determine their position with incredible precision; the margin of error is only a few inches. Additionally, using reflective technology means your LGV is not constrained by safety structures. This allows LGVs to move faster throughout the facility, increasing workflow speed and efficiency.
LGVs also provide reliable performance. Because they are not bound by floor structures, LGVs are less sensitive to floor quality. If there are irregularities or changes to floors or along the route, LGVs are able to safely adapt and navigate. Reflective technology also allows your LGV system to quickly, easily, and economically create new navigation routes.
Finally, as your LGV moves throughout the facility, these features combine to create better product stability. With efficient, precise, and smooth travel, LGVs can move products and materials around the facility while minimizing problems or accidents.
Navigation systems are a key part of AGV technology, but these vehicles also need reliable obstacle detection. Automatic collision detection systems are necessary safety measures to ensure AGVs continue operating as intended even when encountering unexpected obstacles or other changes in their path. The most modern form of anti-collision is laser obstacle detection.
AGVs with laser obstacle detection include a safety laser sensor that detects pedestrians and obstacles in the vehicle's path. These sensors emit signals covering specific areas around the vehicle. When sensors encounter obstacles, larger warning zones tell the vehicle to slow down. When the vehicle senses obstacles, smaller stop fields halt the vehicle.
Different sized and shaped zones work together to achieve maximum awareness and protection. For example, fast-moving vehicles have larger fields of view to provide better warnings when AGVs encounter obstacles, while slow-moving vehicles have smaller fields of view.
