AGV Technology

AGV is an abbreviation of "Automated Guided Vehicle", which means "automatic guided transport vehicle", which means that it is equipped with electromagnetic or optical automatic guide device, it can travel along a prescribed guide path, with safety protection and various movements. The AGV is a category of wheeled mobile robots (WMR-Wheeled Mobile Robot).

The main three technologies of AGV are hinge structure, engine separation technology and energy feedback.

Automated Guided Vehicle (referred to as AGV) refers to a vehicle equipped with electromagnetic or optical automatic guidance devices that can travel along a prescribed guidance path, and has safety protection and various transfer functions, in industrial applications. Without the driver's van, rechargeable batteries are the power source. The computer can control the route of travel

And the behavior, or the use of electromagnetic track (electromagnetic path-following system) to set up its route, the electromagnetic track is attached to the floor, unmanned vans follow the message from the electromagnetic track to move and move.

AGV is characterized by wheeled movement. Compared with walking, crawling or other non-wheeled mobile robots, AGV has the advantages of quick action, high work efficiency, simple structure, strong controllability, and good safety. Compared with other equipment commonly used in material transportation, AGV's active area does not need to be installed with fixed devices such as rails, support frames, etc., and is not limited by the site, road, and space. Therefore, in the automated logistics system, it can fully reflect its automation and flexibility, and achieve efficient, economical and flexible unmanned production.

AGV advantages

(1) High degree of automation;

By the computer, electronic control equipment, laser reflectors and other controls.

When a certain part of the workshop requires auxiliary materials, the relevant information is input by the staff to the computer terminal. The computer terminal then sends the information to the central control room. The professional technicians issue instructions to the computer. Under the cooperation of the electronic control equipment, this The order is finally accepted and executed by AGV - the accessories are sent to the appropriate location.

(2) charging automation;

When the power of the AGV trolley is about to be exhausted, it will send a request to the system to request charging (general technicians will set a value in advance) and “queue” the charging to the charging place automatically after the system allows.

In addition, the AGV car has a long battery life (more than 10 years), and it can work for about 4 hours every 15 minutes.

(3) Aesthetics, improved viewing, and thus enhance the company's image.

(4) Convenient and reduce the floor space; the AGV trolley in the production workshop can shuttle back and forth in each workshop.

AGVAGV Development History

The role of AGV as a material transporter has been more than 60 years. The first AGV was born in 1953 and it was a car

Simple converted AGC tractor tractor with pockets to transport cargo along a wire placed in the air in a grocery warehouse. By the end of the 1950s to the early 1960s, there were many types of trailing AGVs for factories and warehouses.

In the 1970s, the basic guiding technique was to rely on electromagnetic frequencies induced by wires buried in the ground. The frequency in the wire is turned on or off through a device called a ground controller, which instructs the AGV to follow a predetermined path.

In the late 1980s, wireless guidance technology was introduced into the AGV system, for example, guided by laser and inertia, which improved the flexibility and accuracy of the AGV system. Moreover, when the route needs to be modified, it is not necessary to change the ground. Or interrupt production. The introduction of these guidance methods has led to more diversification of guidance methods.

Since the 1980s, the automatic guided transport vehicle (AGV) system has developed into one of the largest professional branches in the production logistics system, and has appeared the trend of industrial development, becoming an indispensable part of modern enterprise automation equipment. In Europe, the United States and other developed countries, the most rapid development, the most widely used; Japan and South Korea in Asia, has also been rapid development and application, especially in Japan, product specifications, varieties, technology, equipment, quantity and degree of automation It is relatively abundant and has reached the level of standardization, serialization, and assembly line production. In China, with the rapid development of logistics systems, the application scope of AGV is also expanding. How to develop AGV system technologies that can meet all aspects of user needs (function, price, quality) is a realistic issue that we must face in the future. .

With the comprehensive analysis of AGV products with complex AGV products, it is not difficult to analyze that there are two development models for AGV at home and abroad: The first is the automatic AGV technology represented by Europe and the United States. This type of technology pursues the automation of AGV and is almost completely ineffective. Manual intervention is required. Path planning and production processes are complex and can be applied to almost all handling situations. These AGVs have perfect functions and advanced technologies. At the same time, in order to adopt a modular design, reduce design costs, and improve the standards for mass production, AGV in Europe and America has given up on the pursuit of appearance design, adopting the form of large parts assembly, and the coverage of series products. Wide: Various driving modes, various guidance methods, and various transfer mechanisms. The load capacity of the series can range from 50kg to 60000kg (60 tons). Despite this, due to technical and functional limitations, the sales price of such AGVs remains high. There are only a few companies in the country that can produce such products. The level of technology is comparable to the international level. The second type is the simple AGV technology represented by Japan - or can only be referred to as AGC (Automated Guided Cart). The technology pursues is simple and practical, and strives to allow users to recover investment costs in the shortest possible time. AGV has a wide range of applications in Japan and Taiwan. From the quantitative point of view, most AGVs produced in Japan belong to such products (AGC). This type of product is fully integrated with simple production applications (single path, fixed process). The AGC is used only for carrying and does not deliberately emphasize AGC's automatic loading and unloading functions. Most of the guides only use simple tape guides. the way. Because Japan's basic industries are developed, AGC manufacturers can configure their functional devices that are almost simple enough to make AGC's cost almost drop to the limit. This kind of AGC was widely used in Japan in the 1980s and reached the peak of application in 2002 and 2003. Due to the low technical threshold of the product, there are currently many companies in the country that can produce such products.

The status of AGV

With the rapid development of logistics system, the application scope of AGV is also expanding. AGV system researches and designs an unmanned car system scheme based on electromagnetic navigation. Through actual hardware experiments, the system can achieve the desired design requirements and can be widely used. In the industrial, military, transportation, electronics and other fields, it has good environmental adaptability, strong anti-interference ability and target recognition ability.