Why do we see the AGV market so prosperous today? As early as the 1950s, automobile manufacturers used guided vehicles to distribute mechanical parts in their factories. Since then, different methods have been developed to move these mobile robots on demand.
Today, about six technologies are used in these vehicles:
1. Natural navigation 2 Visual navigation 3 Magnetic stripe navigation 4 QR code navigation 5. Laser navigation 6. Even ultrasonic navigation
These technologies are now owned by AGV. This market currently has 550 million euros, mainly in Europe, and may reach 1.35 billion euros by 2023. Its rapid growth is particularly attributed to e-commerce companies, whose technology is developing exponentially. Therefore, their primary task is to continuously optimize the internal logistics process to organize the company and ensure faster and faster delivery. Amazon is one of the first companies to integrate AGV technology by creating its own smart vehicle. Manufacturers also use this method in their automated warehouses, in which AGV solves the problem of compact miniaturization.
These internal logistics robots are also increasingly used in the field of goods to people flow. Among them, AGV provides optimized response by taking over heavy and repetitive tasks, and delivers objects and heavy objects directly to workers. This work mode is called human-machine cooperation.
Why can AGV perfectly cope with logistics challenges?
With the development of e-commerce, logistics services now need new solutions. AGV solves all the challenges in the distribution chain:
First of all, they improve productivity, speed and quality by allowing operators to handle more goods, and at the same time, they are more reliable. Compared with human working alone, this method is more than 30% faster and has fewer errors. Therefore, the company can complete the order faster and provide higher security for personnel and goods at the same time.
With its mechanical assistance, AGV can improve working conditions, which helps significantly reduce musculoskeletal disease (MSD) and accidents in the workplace. This is the overall goal of the cooperative robot: the cooperative robot can reduce the physical discomfort of human workers without interfering with human work.
They can also save storage space through better space organization and optimization. This provides a huge real estate advantage, because every square meter saved represents several years of economic benefits.
In terms of production, the return on investment can be seen in a year or two.
What are the technical limitations and challenges of AGV manufacturers/designers in this industry?
Before being able to meet the needs of customers, especially in logistics, manufacturers must address technical constraints. AGVs must provide long-term reliability and robustness so that they can operate without maintenance for at least two years to optimize the profitability of the warehouse. Any downtime will lead to a chain reaction and huge economic losses.
AGV must also be structurally miniaturized to allow its owners to occupy smaller warehouses and reduce operating costs. AGV is smaller but can still carry heavy objects, so it must provide sufficient power density. Therefore, the challenge of miniaturization to save space and drive systems to improve efficiency and robustness is fundamental.