Features of AGV
The distinctive feature of AGV is unmanned, AGV are equipped with automatic guidance systems, which can ensure that the system can automatically drive along a predetermined route without manual pilotage, and automatically transport goods or materials from the point of origin to the destination.
Another feature of AGV is good flexibility, high degree of automation and high level of intelligence, the driving path of AGV can be flexibly changed according to the requirements of storage location, production process, etc., and the cost of running path change is very low compared with traditional conveyor belts and rigid conveyor lines. AGV are generally equipped with loading and unloading mechanisms, which can automatically interface with other logistics equipment to realize the automation of the whole process of loading, unloading and handling of goods and materials. In addition, AGV also has the characteristics of clean production, AGV relies on its own battery to provide power, no noise and no pollution during operation, and can be used in many places that require a clean working environment.
Classification of AGVs
1. Electromagnetic induction guided AGV
Electromagnetic induction guidance is generally on the ground, along the pre-set driving path buried wire, when high-frequency current flows through the wire, electromagnetic field is generated around the wire, AGV symmetrically installed on the left and right two electromagnetic inductors, the difference in the strength of the electromagnetic signal they receive can reflect the degree of AGV deviation from the path. The automatic control system of the AGV controls the steering of the vehicle according to this deviation, and the continuous dynamic closed-loop control can ensure the stable automatic tracking of the set path by the AGV. This electromagnetic induction guided navigation method is used in the vast majority of commercial AGV, especially for large and medium-sized AGV.
2. Laser-guided AGV
This kind of AGV is installed with a laser scanner, on the wall or pillar along the running path is installed with a highly reflective reflector laser positioning sign, AGV relies on the laser scanner to emit a laser beam, and then accept the laser beam reflected by the surrounding positioning signs, the on-board computer calculates the current position of the vehicle and the direction of movement, and corrects the orientation by comparing with the built-in digital map, so as to realize automatic handling.
The application of this type of AGV is becoming more and more common. And according to the same guidance principle, if the laser scanner is replaced with an infrared emitter or ultrasonic emitter, the laser-guided AGV can be changed to an infrared-guided AGV and an ultrasound-guided AGV.
3. Vision-guided AGV
Vision-guided AGV are rapidly developing and maturing AGV that are equipped with CCD cameras and sensors, and are equipped with an image database of the surroundings of the path of the AGV to be driven in the on-board computer. While the AGV is driving, the camera dynamically acquires image information about the vehicle's surroundings and compares it with an image database to determine the current position and make decisions about the next step.
This kind of AGV does not require any artificial setting of any physical path, so it has the best guidance flexibility in theory, and with the rapid development of computer image acquisition, storage and processing technology, this kind of AGV is becoming more and more practical.
In addition, there are various forms of AGV such as ferromagnetic gyroscopic inertial guided AGV and optically guided AGV.