AGVs take on new roles in industry

At ProMat 2007, several new types of automatic guided vehicles opened the door to novel applications in distribution, warehousing and manufacturing.

By Corinne Kator, Assoicate Edtior -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/7/2007

For decades, automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) have been known for moving products between work cells in manufacturing facilities. But companies at ProMat made it clear that AGVs are moving on to different and often more complex tasks.

AGVs at the loading dock. Two companies, Jervis B. Webb and Egemin Automation demonstratrated trailer-loading AGVs at their ProMat booths. Both vehicles are available with either laser guidance or inertial guidance systems and work without making alterations to trailers or loading docks.

If pallets are queued up, a single Egemin AGV can load a trailer in 15 to 20 minutes, says company executive Mark Stevenson. “Our guiding principle for this system is that if a fork truck can do it, we can do it,” he says.

AGVs for picking, putaway. In a traditional distribution center, workers travel to the shelves to put away and pick products. First-time exhibitor Kiva Systems uses a fleet of AGVs to pick up individual shelving units and deliver them to the workers.

The little orange AGVs—which Kiva calls “robotic drive units”—navigate by reading optical markers laid out in a grid pattern on the floor. The battery-powered units automatically navigate to recharging stations when necessary. Sophisticated control software directs the entire system.

Obstacles are no obstacle. RMT Robotics introduced its automated delivery and manipulation (ADAM) vehicle at the show. Like traditional AGVs, ADAM can carry loads between work stations. Unlike traditional AGVs, ADAM uses an open path navigation platform to calculate the best path to its destination and to negotiate its way around unexpected obstacles.