Early last month, AGV Products Inc. dedicated its new 40,000 square foot facility in Charlotte, N.C. The $12 million company builds automatic guided vehicles (AGV) for a range of applications. It is also the only supplier of three guidance systems (laser, inertial, and wire), according to president Mats Herrstromer.

On display at the open house was a $1 million AGV for the Lawrence Livermore National Labs. Along with other vehicles built by AGV Products, the 30,000 pound vehicle transports self-contained clean rooms weighing up to 8,000 pounds and housing high-precision optics at the National Ignition Facility (NIF).

When the facility is operational next year, it will use the world's largest laser to compress and heat fusion fuel to thermonuclear ignition. The AGV positions the optics, that create that reaction, to within a few thousandths of an inch, according to Steve Yakuma of the NIF. Delivery of the vehicle is slated for later this year.