Focus on AGV industry for 17 years
Focus on AGV industry for 17 years
Whether for large or small enterprises, internal logistics automation is a thorny problem that often needs to be faced: if the automation of material transportation can be realized, why waste staff resources?
Until recently, the traditional automatic guided vehicle system (AGV) is still the only solution for the automation of internal transportation. AGV is a common equipment in large-scale fixed equipment. It is usually used for material delivery with repeatability and consistency, and enterprises need to be able to accept large initial cost expenditure and long-term return on investment (ROI). Nowadays, the more sophisticated, flexible and cost-effective autonomous mobile robots (AMR) technology has brought severe challenges to the AGV market. Although both AGV and AMR can realize material transportation, this is the only similarity.
Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) can use software to draw maps inside the factory or import factory building drawings in advance to realize navigation. This function is equivalent to a car loaded with GPS and a set of pre installed maps. When the car sets people's residence and work address, it can generate the most convenient path according to the location on the map.
This is the same as the mechanism of autonomous mobile robot taking and sending parts after setting the position information. In order to choose the most effective way to reach the destination, the AMR vehicle can detect the surrounding environment using data from cameras, built-in sensors, laser scanners and complex software. It can work completely autonomously, and if there are forklifts, pallets, people or other obstacles in front of it, it can use the best alternative route to make a safe detour. As a result, it is possible to ensure that the frequency of material delivery keeps the progress, so as to optimize productivity.
Autonomous operation makes AMR flexible. AMR can change tasks through simple software adjustment. The same autonomous mobile robot can perform various tasks in different positions and can automatically make adjustments to meet the changing environment and production requirements.
The tasks performed by AMR can be controlled through the robot interface or configured using the robot fleet control software for multiple robots. The control software can automatically prioritize the instructions and select the robot most suitable for a given task according to the location and applicability. Once a task is formulated, employees do not need to spend time coordinating the work of robots, who will be able to focus on high value-added work and promote the success of the company's operation.
Although AMR carries many advanced technologies, it is generally an economical and applicable solution. AMR does not require wires, magnetic strips or expensive modifications to building infrastructure, so AMR is fast to start with low cost, which does not cause costly production interruptions during deployment.
Because AMR can be deployed quickly and easily, productivity gains can be achieved almost immediately. AMR's initial cost is very low, and its process optimization is fast, which can provide a very fast return on investment. With the continuous growth of business volume, AMR applications can be expanded at a very low new cost.
