Next-generation sensing technologies add smarts to robot AGVs

摘要

The use of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in manufacturing facilities and warehouses is not new. Over 60 years ago, Arthur Barrett, Jr. developed the first "driverless vehicle" known as the "Guide-O-Matic," which helped transform Barrett Electronics into a major provider of advanced logistics and distribution equipment. Since that time, the adoption of AGVs into the distribution ecosystem has been slow, but all of that is changing with Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, and the adoption of the interconnected workplace.