![]() Modalities like magnetic tape represent the lowest cost, but highest maintenance approach to navigation.ĪGVs are a common (and proven) form of robotic conveyance in manufacturing environments for applications such as parts and components delivery. AGV navigation paths can be altered with relative ease by relocating the guides that control the systems. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) – Automated guided vehicles (AGVs), are mobile robots that use magnetic tape, RFID tags, optical strips, lasers, or other modalities to guide them through facilities along pre-determined pathways.Reconfiguring traditional chain-based towlines in response to changing business requirements is a very labor-intensive, costly and lengthy undertaking.ĪGVs move with precisely calibrated acceleration and deceleration, and employ different sensing technologies to detect people and obstacles, slowing down or stopping depending on how near the object is, and resuming again when the path is clear. Deep trenching in the floor and extensive concrete / civil work is often required. The development of towline systems requires substantial construction and engineering of their operational environment. ![]() The majority of towline conveyor systems in manufacturing environments use a recessed towline (usually a chain) to pull wheeled carts along a fixed path through sequential workstations. One form of these systems, towline conveyors (tow conveyors, towveyors, build line conveyors, trac-veyors), have found wide use for manufacturing processes that require constant forward motion for progressive operations. Towline Conveyors – Conveyors have been employed in manufacturing plants for over 100 years.Over time, many of these manual conveyance platforms – inefficient and often dangerous – were automated using a variety of system types including: Prior to the development of automated conveyance solutions, items under manufacture were typically transported manually using carts, trolleys or forklifts, both powered and unpowered. Automated guided vehicles have seen wide adoption among manufacturers of heavyweight products because of the safety advantages that come with automation technologies over manual options. Autonomous mobile robots are commonly used as an alternative to fork trucks and are typically tasked with transporting components as part of lineside replenishment operations for electric vehicles, agricultural equipment, and medical device manufacturers. Flexible Conveyance Systems – Automation technologies that can be flexibly redeployed once installed, such as Automated Guided Vehicles and Autonomous Mobile Robotics (see below), have found wide use in applications like delivering kitted materials to point-of-use on an assembly line, as well as transporting product like cars, trucks, and tractors through their assembly processes.Towline conveyors (see below), commonly used for moving heavy loads in manufacturing facilities, are another form of fixed conveyance solution. ![]() Fixed conveyance systems such as belts, rollers, and overhead conveyors, provide manufacturers with productivity benefits, but at the expense of flexibility.
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