What questions should a company ask itself before using AGVs in its production/intralogistics?

Frank Woortmann: There are technical and economic aspects that need to be considered. The first step is to develop a comprehensive technical concept. This involves analysing the extent to which production processes and material flows can be standardized and automated in order to switch to AGVs. Based on the technical concept, the next step is to compare costs and benefits: What is the positive effect on efficiency and increased productivity associated with the introduction of an AGV? At the same time, the investment costs for AGVs, but also the adaptation of production systems and integration into higher-level systems, such as ERP, must be considered. The maintenance of the AGV must not be ignored either.

Why should a company simulate the use of AGVs in advance?

Frank Woortmann: Automated guided vehicles are of great importance for an optimal and efficient material flow. A simulation allows optimizations to be tested and validated quickly. For a good simulation, the dynamic dependencies - such as encounters with other AGVs, hall gates, bottlenecks, intersections and battery capacity - should already be taken into account when planning the AGV, which significantly increases planning reliability. Furthermore, a simulation also makes it easy to identify the number of vehicles and workloads required. A route planning simulation also helps to find efficient routes between the stops. A simulation provides a good data basis for the investment decision.

How can AGVs be integrated into production/intralogistics independently of the manufacturer?

Frank Woortmann: Many AGV manufacturers generally supply their own fleet management systems. These represent the link between the vehicles and the respective environment. However, the management systems are not able to integrate vehicles from other AGV suppliers. This means that the end user must also operate the corresponding fleet management systems when using vehicles from different manufacturers, which leads to high operational costs. To solve this challenge, independent and open software solutions are required for the optimal operation of various mobile robots (AGVs, AMRs, AGVs) in logistics and production. These software solutions offer integration of the different AGVs through defined interfaces, for example VDA 5050, or by connecting them as ROS nodes. VDA 5050 could also help to solve the problem: It describes the communication between an AGV and various fleet management systems. This means that a vehicle from manufacturer A can be easily integrated into the fleet management system from manufacturer B thanks to the implementation of a VDA 5050 interface.

How is the safety aspect mapped in the control system or in the software?

Frank Woortmann: AGVs have penetrated many areas of production and intralogistics, which is why safety is always the top priority when it comes to human-machine collaboration. Legal requirements such as DIN EN ISO 3691-4 help to identify and implement safety aspects. Safety requirements such as person detection, AGV speed monitoring and safe stopping of the AGV are necessary but complex safety functions. To implement them, different systems - such as navigation, safety and control - communicate with each other and exchange safety information. Fully integrated safety and control platforms are also used to simplify engineering. This considerably simplifies the interaction of navigation with drive control and safe evaluation.

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