DA-RT designs and realizes AAutomated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to make material handling processes (eg. storage,
control, protection) efficient.
OBJECTIVES
Material handling systems are a key part of production system. In fact, they allow the supply production processes and the movement of parts of products (semi-finisched or finished).
The automatiozation of those systems (Automated Guided Vehicles – AGV) allows a reduction in the number of workers employed in the activity, as well as production times, resulting in increased productivity and reduced lesion events.
FUNCTIONS
AGVs are used to:
- routine applications, where goods are moved from a source to a destination without a fixed line;
- on-demand applications, based on a predefined source and destination points;
- and also in special situations, such as the transport of dangerous goods and/or working in warehouse or other sites at low temperatures.
That's because AGV is able to navigate autonomously in unstructured environments (without laser markers, without magnetic tracks, and so on..) and, once assigned the mission through terminals distributed in the warehouse, AGV plans the route and autonomously avoids the obstacles present on the route.
AGV can also operate in the presence of operators and unexpected obstacles by circumnavigating them or calculating alternatives routes, as it has a high reliability security system, as well as a supervisory software that manages communication between different units and interfaces with External System of Process Automation and Building Automation.
SYSTEMS & SUBSYSTEMS
This type of function is possible thanks to two intelligent units: The HLU, a high-level unit that performs planning, mapping, detection and monitoring; and the LLU, a low-level unit that takes care of avoiding obstacles, following the path, controlling the drive, etc.
TYPES OF AGVs (examples)
FORKLIFT, used for the automation of loading and unloading operations in the storage of the transported goods, is able to supply the pallets to be tranported autonomously
TOW TRACTOR, used to move tow toward the production zone autonomously
HEAVYWEIGHT MOVER, used to move heavyweight parcel
TROLLEY AGV, used to lift the dedicated structure to transport materials