Remain within the confines of their operations lanes/paths.Primarily path follow some type of fixed infrastructure such as magnetic tape/wire, painted lines, QR code stickers or laser targets.In some cases, AGVs are a less expensive solution than an AMR.
Simpler control system and sensors than an AMR.Can operate collaboratively and safely with humans within their workspace (or intended paths).Avoid collisions with objects that might come into their path.Both can be used to move material from one point to another within a facility.In addition to Unmanned Guided Vehicle (UGV), there are also Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones), and Unmanned Marine Vehicles (autonomous boats/ships). Although it was widely debated by industry experts and voted on within the new standard, IMR has not reached broad usage as of the writing of this article, but may emerge to replace the term AMR in future years. The term Industrial Mobile Robot (IMR) was introduced in the recent safety standard ANSI/RIA R15.08.
An AMR, on the other hand, is like a taxi, able to freely move between any two points, and replan a route when the traffic is too dense. The best analogy for understanding one of the primary differences between an AGV and an AMR is that an AGV is like a railroad train engine, constrained only to operate on its train tracks. This includes not only wheeled vehicles, but also tracked vehicles, bipedal robots, quadruped robots, and multi-legged robots. In addition, while AGVs are all wheeled vehicles, AMRs come in a variety of locomotion configurations. Register now for the 2024 Robotics Summit. AMRs are capable of free-movement and real-time path planning that enables them to collaborate in material handling tasks with humans. AGVs are the predecessors to mobile robots and have been in operation since the 1950’s, however, they still have a variety of uses within a modern manufacturing or warehouse environment.Īn autonomous mobile robot (AMR) is a different class of UGV that has more capabilities than an AGV. An AGV is NOT a sub-class of mobile robot. An automatic guided vehicle (AGV) is a type of unmanned guided vehicle (UGV) that moves throughout a facility by following a set of predetermined paths.