What is an intelligent-Automated Guided Vehicle (i-AGV)?
Intelligent-Automated Guided Vehicles (i-AGVs) are a recent advancement in the field of driverless transport devices commonly used for material handling applications in industrial environments. They apply state-of-the-art navigation and guidance technologies that, unlike traditional AGVs, allow true autonomy requiring no external guide-path networks or navigational markers (wires, mirrors or magnets) to assist in their movement around a facility. The approach provides a new level of flexibility in that an i-AGV can plot a path unique to its assigned task (ensuring the shortest possible route is taken), and can freely navigate around fixed and moving obstructions (typically found in today’s highly dynamic manufacturing environments). In addition to being used for simple transport and delivery tasks, i-AGVs are being integrated as key elements of fully automated manufacturing work cells, providing autonomous robotic transport of WIP between related pieces of process equipment.
