THE AGV CAN TOW OBJECTS BEHIND THEM IN TRAILERS TO WHICH THEY CAN AUTONOMOUSLY ATTACH. THE TRAILERS CAN BE USED TO MOVE RAW MATERIALS OR FINISHED PRODUCT. THE AGV CAN ALSO STORE OBJECTS ON A BED. THE OBJECTS CAN BE PLACED ON A SET OF MOTORIZED ROLLERS (CONVEYOR) AND THEN PUSHED OFF BY REVERSING THEM. AGVS ARE EMPLOYED IN NEARLY EVERY INDUSTRY, INCLUDING PULP, PAPER, METALS, NEWSPAPER, AND GENERAL MANUFACTURING. TRANSPORTING MATERIALS SUCH AS FOOD, LINEN OR MEDICINE IN HOSPITALS IS ALSO DONE.
AN AGV CAN ALSO BE CALLED A LASER GUIDED VEHICLE (LGV). IN GERMANY THE TECHNOLOGY IS ALSO CALLED FAHRERLOSE TRANSPORT SYSTEM (FTS) AND IN SWEDEN FÖRARLÖSA TRUCKAR. LOWER COST VERSIONS OF AGVS ARE OFTEN CALLED AUTOMATED GUIDED CARTS (AGCS) AND ARE USUALLY GUIDED BY MAGNETIC TAPE. AGCS ARE AVAILABLE IN A VARIETY OF MODELS AND CAN BE USED TO MOVE PRODUCTS ON AN ASSEMBLY LINE, TRANSPORT GOODS THROUGHOUT A PLANT OR WAREHOUSE, AND DELIVER LOADS.
THE FIRST AGV WAS BROUGHT TO MARKET IN THE 1950S, BY BARRETT ELECTRONICS OF NORTHBROOK, ILLINOIS, AND AT THE TIME IT WAS SIMPLY A TOW TRUCK THAT FOLLOWED A WIRE IN THE FLOOR INSTEAD OF A RAIL. OUT OF THIS TECHNOLOGY CAME A NEW TYPE OF AGV, WHICH FOLLOWS INVISIBLE UV MARKERS ON THE FLOOR INSTEAD OF BEING TOWED BY A CHAIN. THE FIRST SUCH SYSTEM WAS DEPLOYED AT THE WILLIS TOWER (FORMERLY SEARS TOWER) IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS TO DELIVER MAIL THROUGHOUT ITS OFFICES.
PACKMOBILE WITH TRAILER AGV
OVER THE YEARS THE TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME MORE SOPHISTICATED AND TODAY AUTOMATED VEHICLES ARE MAINLY LASER NAVIGATED E.G. LGV (LASER GUIDED VEHICLE). IN AN AUTOMATED PROCESS, LGVS ARE PROGRAMMED TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER ROBOTS TO ENSURE PRODUCT IS MOVED SMOOTHLY THROUGH THE WAREHOUSE, WHETHER IT IS BEING STORED FOR FUTURE USE OR SENT DIRECTLY TO SHIPPING AREAS. TODAY, THE AGV PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE DESIGN OF NEW FACTORIES AND WAREHOUSES, SAFELY MOVING GOODS TO THEIR RIGHTFUL DESTINATION.
Question: WHAT ARE AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLES?
Answer: SOMETIMES CALLED SELF-GUIDED VEHICLES OR AUTONOMOUS GUIDED VEHICLES, AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLES (AGVS) ARE MATERIAL HANDLING SYSTEMS OR LOAD CARRIERS THAT TRAVEL AUTONOMOUSLY THROUGHOUT A WAREHOUSE, DISTRIBUTION CENTER, OR MANUFACTURING FACILITY, WITHOUT AN ONBOARD OPERATOR OR DRIVER. IN THIS POST, WE’LL EXPLORE THE VARIOUS TYPES OF AGVS, HOW THEY WORK AND THEIR BENEFITS.
Question: APPLICATIONS FOR AGVS
Answer: AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLES ARE USED FOR TASKS THAT WOULD TYPICALLY BE HANDLED BY FORKLIFTS, CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR MANUAL CARTS, MOVING LARGE VOLUMES OF MATERIAL IN A REPETITIVE MANNER.
AGVS ARE USED IN A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS. THEY’RE OFTEN USED FOR TRANSPORTING RAW MATERIALS SUCH AS METAL, PLASTIC, RUBBER OR PAPER.
FOR EXAMPLE:
- AGVS CAN TRANSPORT RAW MATERIALS FROM RECEIVING TO THE WAREHOUSE OR DELIVER MATERIALS DIRECTLY TO PRODUCTION LINES.
- AGVS CONSISTENTLY AND RELIABLY DELIVER RAW MATERIALS NEEDED WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION, ENSURING THAT PRODUCTION LINES ALWAYS HAVE THE MATERIALS THEY NEED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.
IN ADDITION TO TRANSPORTING RAW MATERIALS, AGVS ARE USED IN WORK-IN-PROCESS APPLICATIONS AND WITH FINISHED GOODS TO SUPPORT PRODUCTION OR MANUFACTURING LINES. ACCORDING TO INVESTOPEDIA, THE TERM WORK-IN-PROCESS DESCRIBES “PARTIALLY COMPLETED GOODS, WHICH ARE TYPICALLY TURNED FROM RAW MATERIAL TO FINISHED PRODUCT IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME,” SUCH AS MANUFACTURED GOODS. IN WORK-IN-PROCESS APPLICATIONS, AGVS MOVE MATERIALS OR PARTS FROM THE WAREHOUSE TO PRODUCTION LINES OR FROM ONE WORKSTATION TO ANOTHER, PROVIDING REPETITIVE AND EFFICIENT MOVEMENT OF MATERIALS THROUGHOUT THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. WITHOUT AGVS, MANUFACTURING PROCESSES MAY COME TO A HALT WHEN PROCESSING LINES RUN OUT OF MATERIALS. MANUFACTURING IS THEN DELAYED WHILE A HUMAN WORKER RETRIEVES THE NECESSARY MATERIALS FROM STORAGE AND TRANSPORTS THEM TO THE PRODUCTION LINE.
AGVS ARE ALSO USED IN INBOUND AND OUTBOUND HANDLING FOR REPLENISHMENT AND FOR PICKING. FOR EXAMPLE, AGVS MAY BE USED TO TRANSPORT INVENTORY FROM RECEIVING TO STORAGE LOCATIONS OR FROM LONG-TERM STORAGE LOCATIONS TO FORWARD PICKING LOCATIONS TO REPLENISH STOCK. MOVING INVENTORY FROM LONG-TERM STORAGE TO FORWARD PICKING LOCATIONS ENSURES THAT ADEQUATE INVENTORY IS ACCESSIBLE TO PICKERS, MAKING THE ORDER PICKING PROCESS MORE EFFICIENT.
AGVS SUCH AS COLLABORATIVE MOBILE ROBOTS ASSIST IN THE PICKING PROCESS BY GUIDING WAREHOUSE ASSOCIATES THROUGH TASKS AND TRANSPORTING PICKED ORDERS TO PACKAGING AND SHIPPING
