Invention
Automated Guided Vehicle
Industrial Engineering
An automated guided vehicle, or AGV, is a driverless vehicle that transports material around a factory, warehouse or distribution center by following a fixed guide path or, in later designs, by navigating with onboard sensors and software rather than a human operator. The American inventor Arthur Barrett Jr. and his company, Barrett Electronics, introduced the first commercial AGV in 1953, a modified towing tractor that followed a wire embedded in the floor to pull a trailer through a grocery warehouse. AGVs went on to become a standard fixture of automated warehousing and just-in-time factory logistics, and later generations, guided by lasers, magnetic tape or onboard mapping rather than a buried wire, are usually distinguished from the newer term autonomous mobile robot by their continued reliance on a defined path or route rather than fully independent navigation.
Facts
SignificanceThe first commercial AGV, from Barrett Electronics, was a tow truck that followed a wire in the floor instead of a rail 1 Connections
Associated With
In Field
Source Automated guided vehicle, Wikipedia
Sources
1. Automated guided vehicle, Wikipedia
Introduction
The first AGV was brought to market in the 1950s, by Barrett Electronics of Northbrook, Illinois, and at the time it was simply a tow truck that followed a wire in the floor instead of a rail.
In Field: Industrial Engineering, Lead section
They are most often used in industrial applications to transport heavy materials around a large industrial building, such as a factory or warehouse.
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