AGV (Automated Guided Vehicles), also known as unmanned transport vehicles, automatic guided vehicles, and laser guided vehicles. Its most prominent feature is unmanned operation. AGVs are equipped with an automatic guidance system, which enables them to travel automatically along a pre - determined route without the need for manual guidance, and transport goods or materials automatically from the starting point to the destination. Another characteristic of AGVs is their good flexibility, high degree of automation, and high level of intelligence. The driving path of an AGV can be changed flexibly according to requirements such as warehouse storage locations and production process flows. Moreover, the cost of changing the running path is extremely low compared to traditional conveyor belts and rigid transmission lines. AGVs are generally equipped with loading and unloading mechanisms, which can automatically interface with other logistics equipment to achieve full - process automation of goods and material loading, unloading, and transportation. In addition, AGVs have the feature of clean production. AGVs are powered by built - in batteries, and they produce no noise and cause no pollution during operation, so they can be applied in many places that require a clean working environment.

AGV has a history of 60 years since its invention. With the expansion of application fields, its types and forms have become diverse. AGVs are often classified into the following types according to the navigation method during their automatic driving process:

1. Electromagnetic induction guided AGV

Electromagnetic induction guidance generally involves burying wires on the ground along a pre - set driving path. When a high - frequency current flows through the wire, an electromagnetic field is generated around the wire. Two electromagnetic sensors are symmetrically installed on the left and right of the AGV. The difference in the intensity of the electromagnetic signals they receive can reflect the degree of the AGV's deviation from the path. The automatic control system of the AGV controls the steering of the vehicle according to this deviation. Continuous dynamic closed - loop control can ensure the stable and automatic tracking of the AGV along the set path. This electromagnetic induction guidance navigation method is used in the vast majority of commercial AGVS, especially suitable for medium - sized and large - sized AGVs.

2. Laser - guided AGV

This type of AGV is equipped with a rotatable laser scanner. Laser positioning markers with highly reflective reflectors are installed on the walls or pillars along the running path. The AGV relies on the laser scanner to emit laser beams and then receives the laser beams reflected back by the surrounding positioning markers. The on - board computer calculates the current position and moving direction of the vehicle, and corrects the orientation by comparing with the built - in digital map, thus realizing automatic handling.

This type of AGV is becoming more and more popular. And based on the same guidance principle, if the laser scanner is replaced with an infrared emitter or an ultrasonic emitter, the laser - guided AGV can be changed into an infrared - guided AGV and an ultrasonic - guided AGV.

3. Vision - guided AGV

The vision - guided AGV is an AGV that is developing and maturing rapidly. This type of AGV is equipped with a CCD camera and sensors, and an image database of the environment around the path that the AGV is to travel is set in the on - board computer. During the running of the AGV, the camera dynamically acquires the environmental image information around the vehicle and compares it with the image database, so as to determine the current position and make a decision on the next - step driving.

Since this type of AGV does not require the manual setting of any physical path, it theoretically has the best guidance flexibility. With the rapid development of computer image acquisition, storage and processing technologies, the practicality of this type of AGV is getting stronger and stronger.

In addition, there are also various forms of AGVs such as ferromagnetic gyro - inertial guided AGVs and optical - guided AGVs.

Introduction to Application Industry Classification

1. Warehousing Industry

The warehousing industry is the earliest application place of AGVs. In 1954, the world's first AGV was put into operation in the warehouse of Mercury Motor Freight Company in South Carolina, USA, used to realize the automatic handling of incoming and outgoing goods. There are about 20,000 various AGVs running in 2,100 large and small warehouses around the world. In the three - dimensional warehouse in the development zone put into operation by Haier Group in 2000, 9 AGVs formed a flexible in - warehouse automatic handling system, successfully completing the handling tasks of 23,400 incoming and outgoing goods and parts every day.

2. Manufacturing Industry

AGVs play a big role in the production lines of the manufacturing industry, efficiently, accurately and flexibly completing the material handling tasks. And multiple AGVs can form a flexible logistics handling system, and the handling route can be adjusted in a timely manner with the adjustment of the production process flow, enabling a production line to manufacture more than a dozen products, greatly improving the production flexibility and the competitiveness of enterprises. In 1974, the Volvo Kalmar car assembly plant in Sweden, in order to improve the flexibility of the transportation system, adopted an automatic car assembly line with AGVS as the carrier. This assembly line is composed of multiple AGVS that can load car bodies. After adopting this assembly line, the assembly time was reduced by 20%, the assembly failures were reduced by 39%, the investment recovery time was reduced by 57%, and the labor force was reduced by 5%. AGVs are widely used in the manufacturing and assembly lines of major car manufacturers in the world, such as General Motors, Toyota, Chrysler, Volkswagen, etc.

In recent years, as a basic handling tool of CIMS, the application of AGVs has penetrated into many industries such as machining, home appliance production, micro - electronics manufacturing, and cigarette manufacturing. The production and processing field has become the most widely used field of AGVs.

3. Post Offices, Libraries, Port Terminals and Airports

In places such as post offices, libraries, port terminals and airports, the transportation of items has characteristics such as large changes in workload, strong dynamics, frequent adjustment of operation processes, and a single handling process. The parallel operation, automation, intelligence of AGVs and...