AGV

AGV Parking System

An automated guided vehicle (AGV) based system is unlike a mono-path system, which is limited to one lane of lateral movement along a steel rail. An AGV system employs robots that roll freely in any direction across solid concrete slabs (including underneath parked cars) enabling faster retrievals and the ability to work around obstacles, thereby increasing system redundancy.

For decades AGVs have been employed in warehousing applications where automation is desired, it’s a fresh concept for use of them in automated parking systems. Vehicles are parked on platforms in transfer cabins which are then collected by AGVs that drive beneath the vehicle platform, lift it, then move it out of the transfer cabin and into the system. The number of AGVs in a system is flexible, based mostly on budget and throughput requirements.

As with the warehouse application, typical AGVs operate on a concrete surface and move in both forward/reverse and left/right directions without the need for large turning radiuses. Vehicle rotation can also be performed along an AGVs path wherever room permits. Vehicle platforms can be approached from all 4 directions to be moved. Multiple AGVs may coordinate movements with each other during simultaneous requests, utilize a multitude of alternate pathways, as well as assist in extracting vehicles placed behind each other.

This level of coordination increasing redundancy and speed efficiencies in the system.

Vehicle lifts are used on systems involving multiple levels, and may or may not allow AGVs to ride with them.