Agvs have been playing the role of material transportation for over 60 years. The first AGV was born in 1953. It was transformed from a towing tractor and was equipped with a cargo pocket, transporting goods along wires laid in the air in a grocery warehouse. By the late 1950s to the early 1960s, various types of towed AGVs had been used in factories and warehouses.

In the 1970s, the basic guidance technology relied on sensing the electromagnetic frequencies generated by wires buried underground. A device called a "ground controller" is used to turn on or off the frequencies in the wires, thereby guiding the AGV to travel along the predetermined path.

In the late 1980s, wireless guidance technology was introduced into AGV systems, such as using lasers and inertia for guidance. This enhanced the flexibility and accuracy of AGV systems. Moreover, when it was necessary to modify the path, there was no need to change the ground or interrupt production. The introduction of these guiding methods has made the guiding methods more diverse.

Since the 1980s, the Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system has developed into one of the largest specialized branches in the production logistics system and has shown a trend of industrialization, becoming an indispensable and important component of modern enterprise automation equipment. In developed countries such as Europe and America, it has developed most rapidly and been applied most widely. In Japan and South Korea in Asia, it has also developed and been applied rapidly. Especially in Japan, the product specifications, varieties, technical levels, equipment quantities and degrees of automation are relatively rich, and have reached the level of standardization, serialization and assembly line production. In China, with the rapid development of the logistics system, the application scope of AGVs is also constantly expanding. How to develop AGV system technology that can meet users' various needs (functions, prices, and quality) is a realistic problem that we must face in the future.

By comprehensively analyzing the development of AGV technology, it is not difficult for us to identify that there are two development models for AGVs at home and abroad:

The first type is the fully automatic AGV technology represented by European and American countries. This type of technology pursues the automation of AGVs, almost completely requiring no human intervention. The path planning and production process are complex and changeable, and it can be applied to almost all handling scenarios.

These AGVs are fully functional and technologically advanced. At the same time, in order to adopt modular design, reduce design costs and raise the standards of mass production, AGVs in Europe and America have given up the pursuit of appearance and shape and adopted the form of large component assembly for production. The coverage of our series of products is extensive: various drive modes, guidance methods, and transfer mechanisms are all available. The load capacity of our series of products can range from 50kg to 60,000kg (60 tons). Despite this, due to technical and functional limitations, the selling price of such AGVs remains high. There are only a few domestic enterprises capable of manufacturing such products, and their technological level is on par with international standards.

The second type is the simple AGV technology represented by Japan - or it can only be called AGC(Automated Guided Cart). This technology pursues simplicity and practicality, striving to enable users to recover their investment costs in the shortest time. This type of AGV is widely used in Japanese and Taiwanese enterprises. In terms of quantity, Most AGVs produced in Japan fall into this category of products (AGC). This type of product is fully integrated with simple production application scenarios (single path, fixed process). AGC is only used for handling and does not deliberately emphasize the automatic loading and unloading function of AGC. In terms of guidance, most only adopt the simple tape guidance method. Due to Japan's well-developed basic industry, AGC manufacturers can equip it with functional devices that are almost as simple as can be, reducing the cost of AGC to almost the limit. This type of AGC was widely used in Japan in the 1980s and reached its peak of application from 2002 to 2003. Due to the relatively low technical threshold of this product, many domestic enterprises are already capable of manufacturing such products.

Nowadays, with the rapid development of the logistics system, the application scope of AGVs is also constantly expanding. In warehousing, manufacturing, ports, airports, tobacco, food, medicine, chemical industry, and even military fields, AGVs have demonstrated their outstanding performance with their efficient, accurate and flexible working characteristics.

Guangzhou Zhongli Intelligent Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the research and development, manufacturing, marketing and technical support of intelligent equipment. It holds multiple invention intellectual property patent certificates! Looking forward to cooperating with you!