Driverless transport systems (or automated guided vehicles, AGVs) are intelligent, autonomously navigating vehicles which are used for the automated transport of goods. These systems differ with regard to load-bearing capacity, load handling functions and the number of vehicles.
The areas of application are equally varied and range from production plants, distribution centres and warehouses to hospitals, nursing homes and old people's homes. Among the most frequent driverless transport systems are solutions for pallet transport, load carriers for small parts, order picking robots, clear-up vehicles, mobile assembly platforms, automatic goods transporters and heavy-duty industrial trucks. The systems operate with 2D and 3D obstacle detection as well as intelligent sensor technology – for example with ultrasound, radar or magnetic field sensors. When integrated into the work process with people, they provide support for a wide variety of tasks.
The advantages are obvious: Time savings, increased efficiency, reduction of personnel costs, punctual transport processes, minimised throughput times, the highest level of availability, less transport damage and a significant reduction in effort and strain for the employees. According to the German newspaper “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, productivity increases of 25 percent are realistic.
We offer various solutions in the field of AGV systems. These include the Omikron quadro heavy-duty castor for driverless transport platforms and the sophisticated TENTE Scout castors, which, thanks to their slim, space-saving design, are the perfect solution when it comes to transport trolleys for drive-under tractors.