[BUYING GUIDE] How to Choose the Right AGV?

An Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) is designed to move materials in manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and distribution centers without the need for human intervention. They embed guidance systems, sensors, and control systems to navigate and perform tasks autonomously. Since it is not always easy to choose the right equipment in front of a multitude of manufacturers, we have produced this buying guide with tips and recommendations to help you make the right purchasing decision.

AGVs play a significant role in today’s warehouses and manufacturing facilities, streamlining numerous logistics tasks. They are indeed efficient for fulfilling material handling tasks, such as transporting raw materials within a facility. Some can also be programmed to perform tasks like loading and unloading.

They usually use guidance systems to navigate through their environment, including magnetic tape, wires embedded in the floor, or laser guidance. They are equipped with sensors to detect obstacles including lasers and cameras.

Are AGVs the same as AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots)?

According to Matt Rendall, CEO of OTTO Motors, which manufactures AMRs,

“The way that I like to think about a busy factory is it’s basically an indoor city and you need different modes of transportation for a city to function. An AGV behaves on a fixed track like a train or a subway. And you need a train and a subway in order for a busy city to function properly. But you also need taxicabs. [With AMRs], what we’re focused on is solving the delivery routes that traditional material handling automation has never been able to access.”