| Automated
Guided Vehicles ( AGVS )
Retrotech integrates World-class material handling equipment to provide automated storage and retrieval systems customized to client needs.
Retrotech's WMS provides the control capability to manage your warehouse and distribution requirements effectively.
An Automated Guided Vehicle is a driverless battery-powered vehicle. It has programming capabilities for path selection and positioning. Applications include material movement from one point to another.
 Types of automated guided vehicle systems:
1. Automatic Horizontal transportation
a. Towing vehicles (driverless tractors)
b. Unit load carriers
c. Guided pallet trucks
d. Light load transporters
2. Automatically positioned stock selectors
Automated Guided Vehicle System (AGVS).
A vehicle equipped with automatic guidance equipment, either electromagnetic or optical. Such a vehicle programming and stop selections, blocking, and any other special functions required by the system.
Automation Trends-AGVS
The increasing need for greater productivity in manufacturing contributed to the increased acceptance of AGV systems. Labor costs, new plant construction, and increased emphasis on automation jumped AGV systems into the forefront of materials handling technology.
AGV's Automated Capabilities
AGVs have a tremendous range of automated capabilities. Many systems are called upon to go up and down ramps, open and close automatic doors, cross drawbridges, run outside, use elevators, and perform advanced automatic loading and unloading functions. These capabilities give a materials handling engineer a powerful tool to use in solving horizontal materials transportation problems. |
A few of the benefits of Automated Guided Vehicles include, flexibility, ease of installation and portability. In fact, most AGV systems are installed in existing facilities without major changes in facility layout or material process flow. AGVS vehicles are existing aisles to transport materials throughout a facility.
Anywhere fork trucks were previously transporting loads an AGV can work, although it is recommended that AGVS equipment operate in dedicated lanes not normally used by other vehicles or humans. Although many systems start out with a simple plan in mind, there are always changes that are made before, during, and after the system becomes functional.
These changes usually are not expensive because the AGV system is relatively
easy to change. Guide paths can be rerouted easily and "stop" stations
in a guide path system can be added, deleted, or moved. Vehicles can be added
to increase throughput and new system functions can be added.
Kulwiec, Raymond A. (1985) Materials Handling Handbook, Second Edition, Wiley-Interscience
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