AGV Control Systems

Overview
Navigation
Steering Control
Traffic Control
Battery Technology
Costs
Supporting Technology
Vendors

Navigation
Fixed-path

Open path

The paths are continuous

The paths are fixed, but can be changed
The paths are well marked on the floor
Examples: Wired, Guide tape, optical

Vehicles are offered more variation if not an

infinite number of ways to navigate the open
space between two points.

Navigation
Wired
The wired sensor is placed on the
bottom of the robot facing the
ground. Then a slot is cut in the
ground and a wire is placed an
inch below the ground. The sensor
on the AGV detects the radio
frequency being transmitted from
the wire and follows it.
Pros/Cons: The wire is embedded
into the ground and so can not be
easily damaged. However,
installing the wire and
maintenance or replacement can be
more difficult (costly).

Navigation
Guide Tape
Tape can be magnetic or colored, and is laid
out on the floor along the desired path. The
AGV is fitted with a sensor to follow the path
of the tape. Tape can also be used to tell the
AGV to speed up, slow down, or stop.
Pros/Cons: Tape does not require cutting a
path into the factory floor for the entire travel
route. On the other hand, it lacks the advantage
of being embedded into the floor in high-traffic
areas where tape can become damaged or dirty.
Of course, tape can also be easily replaced or
relocated if the course needs to change. Also,
the tape does not need to be energized like in a
wired system.

Navigation
Optical Guidance Navigation
The guidepath is a 1" wide ultra-violet painted stripe on the floor. Each AGV has a
sensor that contains an ultra-violet light that illuminates the path. Optical guidance is
primarily used for non-industrial systems. It can be applied to a variety of different
floor surfaces including: concrete, tile, wood, carpet, etc.

Navigation
Laser Target Navigation
The wireless navigation is done by mounting
retroreflective tape on walls, poles or machines. The
AGV carrys a laser transmitter and receiver on a
rotating turret. The laser is sent off and received again,
and the angle and distance can be calculated and stored
in the AGVs memory. The AGV has reflector map
stored in memory and can correct its position based on
errors between the expected and received
measurements.It can then navigate to a destination
target using the constantly updating position
Pros/Cons: Tape is not in danger of wearing down or
breaking in a high-traffic area, and the AGV path can
be changed by reprogramming the AGV rather than
moving tape. Many laser guided AGVs have rather
sophisticated technology that make changing paths very
quick and easy. Costly.

Navigation
Inertial (or gyroscopic)
Navigation
A computer control system directs and
assigns tasks to the vehicles. Transponders
are embedded in the floor of the work place.
The AGV uses these transponders to verify
that the vehicle is on course. A gyroscope is
able to detect the slightest change in the
direction of the vehicle and corrects it in
order to keep the AGV on its path. The
margin of error for the inertial is 1 inch.
Pros/Cons: Inertial can operate in nearly
any environment including tight aisles or
extreme temperatures and has a longer
lifespan than other guidance options.

Navigation
Cartesian Navigation
Location precision is accomplished by
way of an optical or magnetic grid pattern
that covers the entire floor area. Using
underside sensors, when the vehicle
detects the gridlines, it has a precise
location reference relative to its assigned
path and can correct its heading and
speed.
A grid based navigation system also
utilizes odometer, distance and angle
measurements by the vehicle.
Pros/Cons: Possible travel paths can be
infinite. Magnets or markings must be set
but do not need to be removed (just
replaced in case of wear or breaking)

Steering Control
Differential speed control
Differential speed control is the most common.
Two sets of wheels are driven. The sets can be
driven at the same speed to go straight, or one can
be driven faster than the other to turn in that
direction. With this method it is easy to maneuver
in small spaces. This setup for the wheels is not
used in towing applications because the AGV
would cause the trailer to jackknife when it
turned.

Steered wheel control

This type of steering is similar to a cars steering. It
is more precise in following a path than the
differential speed controlled method. This type of
AGV has smoother turning but cannot make sharp
turns in tight spots. Steered wheel control AGV
can be used in all applications; unlike the
differential controlled. Steered wheel control is
used for towing and can also at times have an
operator control it.

Video: http://www.egeminusa.com/swf/Fork-Over_AGVS.html

Traffic Control
Zone control
The favorite in most environments because it
is simple to install and easy to expand. Each
AGV has a wireless transmitter to transmit a
signal and a sensing device to receive this
signal and transmit back to the transmitter. If
an area is clear any AGV can enter and pass
through the area. When an AGV is in the area
all AGV attempting to enter the area must
stop and wait.
Pros/Cons: Zone control is a cost efficient
way to control the AGV in an area. A problem
with this method is if one zone goes down all
the AGVs are at risk to collide with any
other AGV.

http://www.mhia.org/media/elessons/agvs1/understandingagvssect1_.htm

Traffic Control Technical Paper

Deadlock prediction and avoidance for zone-control AGVs; Authors: Yeh M.-S., Yeh W.-C.
Source: International Journal of Production Research, Volume 36, Number 10, 1 October 1998 ,
pp. 2879-2889(11); Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd
Deadlock problems of zone-control uni-directional automated guided vehicle systems (AGVS) are
discussed in this paper. The motivation of this research was to propose a dynamic approach to
enable prediction in real time and to avoid deadlocks that are caused by sharing guidepath zones for
a class of AGVS so that both utilization of resource and overall throughput can be improved. The
proposed algorithmic procedure, in accordance with the states gained and generated from the
obtained model, can serve as a functional module for the operation of a zone-control AGVS without
the need to revise the original vehicle control extensively.

Traffic Control
Forward sensing control
Uses collision avoidance sensors to avoid
collisions with other AGVs, people, or other
objects.
Sonic: works like radar, sends a high-frequency
chirp out and then waits for a reply, from which
it can determine if an object is ahead of it and take
action to avoid collision
Optical: similar to sonic, uses an infrared
transmitter/receiver, sends a signal which gets
reflected back
Bumper: physical contact sensor, most have them
as fail-safes
Limitations:
The problems with these are they can only protect
the AGV from so many sides. They can be
relatively hard to install and work with as well.

Battery Charging
Battery Swap
Requires an operator to manually remove the discharged battery from the AGV
and place a fully charged battery in its place after approximately 8 - 12 hours
(about one shift) of AGVs operation. 5 - 10 minutes is required to perform this
with each AGV in the fleet.

Battery Charging
Automatic / Opportunity
Charging
"Automatic and opportunity battery charging
allows for continuous operation. On average an
AGV charges for 12 minutes every hour for
automatic charging and no manual intervention
is required. If opportunity is being utilized the
AGV will receive a charge whenever the
opportunity arises. When a battery pack gets to
a predetermined level the AGV will finish the
current job that it has been assigned before it
goes to the charging station.

Battery Charging
Automatic Battery Swap
"Automatic battery swap" is an alternative to manual battery swap. It requires an
additional piece of automation machinery, an automatic battery changer, to the
overall AGV system. AGVs will pull up to the battery swap station and have their
batteries automatically replaced with fully charged batteries. The automatic battery
changer then places the removed batteries into a charging slot for automatic
recharging. The automatic battery changer keeps track of the batteries in the system
and pulls them only when they are fully charged

Who, what for, when used

Aircraft, automotive, any
large-scale production
factory
Hospitals
Transportation industry

Costs
Rule of Thumb System Pricing Ranges
(costs shown are per vehicle)

Examples of complexity as used in the 4 tables:

Level 1: Simple
Manual Vehicle Dispatch, Load/Unload, No Central Controller, No Host Interface.
Level 2: Medium
Automatic Vehicle Dispatch, Load/Unload, Central Controller, Product Tracking, Multiple Path Options.
Level 3: More
Automatic Vehicle Dispatch, Load/Unload, automatic coupling/uncoupling (applies to tuggers only), Central
Controller, Complex Host Interface, Ethernet Link, Product Tracking, Multiple Path Options Multiple Transfer
Heights, etc.

Supporting Technology
Batteries / Chargers / Motors
Computer Hardware and/or Software
Controls and Controlling Devices
(e.g.: Sensors)
Radio Frequency/Data Communications
Equipment

Use in Industry

.06% of the material

handling industry

Rules/Limitations

Speed limitations
Level of complexity
Cost
Safety

Primary vendors of technology

Complete AGV systems
Egemin Automation Inc.
Frog AGV Systems Inc.
HK Systems, Inc.
JBT Corporation (formerly FMC Technologies)
Jervis B. Webb Company
Transbotics Corporation
Components and/or supporting products
Danaher Motion Sr software and hardware equipment
SICK, Inc. sensors, safety systems and automatic identification

Standards

Material Handling Industry of America

American Society of Safety Engineers

ANSI/ASME B56.5-2004

Safety Standard for Guided Industrial Vehicles and

Automated Functions of Manned Industrial Vehicles

Safety and perceived safety is main issue

Class application
An AGV system has an average travel distance per delivery LD=200m,
and an average empty travel distance LE=150m. Load and unload
times are each TL=TU=24s and the speed of the AGV is vC=vE=1m/s.
The available time is AT=51.3min/hr/vehicle. How many vehicles are
needed (nC) to satisfy a delivery requirement of RF=30 dels/hr?
Reminder:

TC = TL + TU + LD / vC + LE / vE Delivery cycle time (min)

WL = RF*TC
work by handling system per hr (min/hr)
n = WL/AT
num of required vehicles
C

Class application
TC = [24s +24s +200m+150m/(1m/s)]/60
= 6.633min/del
WL = 30del/hr * 6.633min/del
= 199min/hr
n = (199min/hr)/(51.3min/hr/vehicle)
= 3.88vehicles
n = 4 vehicles required
C

Summary

Efficient
Cost-effective
Maintainable
Highly developed in Japan and Europe
Growing in the US

References

http://www.mhia.org
www.egeminusa.com
wikipedia.com
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