AGV technologies

Where each AGV consists of several components, and although every automatic guided vehicle can take different forms, every one of them includes the following components:

• traction motor(s) to provide movement.
• traction batteries to provide power – batteries may be Lead-Gel, wet NiCd, or one of the various forms of Lithium. E.g. LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate), is one of the newer battery types suitable for AGVs.
• industrial PC or onboard controller.
• payload interface – this may be a fork, platform, conveyor, or lift deck, and may be configured to engage with external devices and systems.

• all AGVs include appropriate safety systems to ensure that hazards and collisions are avoided or completely eliminated.
• safety systems may be contact bumpers and/or contactless sensors and scanners.
• safety systems in Europe are found in EN ISO 3691-4:2020 “Industrial trucks — Safety requirements and verification — Part 4: Driverless industrial trucks and their systems”.

• on-board batteries require charging. Charging systems can be either manual or automatic.

• the fixed infrastructure of the AGV installation will communicate over a physical network – the main controller communicates with peripheral devices via Ethernet, peripheral devices may communicate with other devices using common protocols such as Modbus, CAN, and OPC, while some devices communicate via digital I/O.
• the vehicles usually communicate with the control system using WiFi.

• the vehicles require a navigation system that allows the vehicle to identify its position.

• the central controller provides the traffic management system that organizes and controls the movement of the AGVs around the area of operation, ensuring that AGVs interact with each other to avoid collisions, blockages, and interfaces with external components.

• the central control system must organize the movement of the AGVs around the facility and collect the job initiation commands as well as manage the uplift and discharge of the payloads by the AGV system – the process may be initiated manually through e.g. a touch-screen or bar-code scanner or be generated automatically via an interface to a WMS/ERP system.

• many AGV installations engage with external components to aid with the overall process. Where the interface is automatic the AGV control system must generate and receive the appropriate commands.