Heavy-duty automated guided vehicle (AGV)

Structure and operating principle

A battery-powered AGV carries heavy materials between production and storage positions using a configured guidance and dispatch system.

The vehicle combines a load platform, traction, guidance and a control interface to the dispatch system. Navigation functions and personnel-protection functions have different purposes; a route sensor alone does not establish a safety function.

• Battery-electric drive for floor-based transport.
• Magnetic, laser or vision guidance options according to the project.
• Dispatch integration coordinates route assignments and station handovers.

Application and selection

For repeatable transfers of industrial loads between defined stations. The vehicle, operating zone, charging area and handover machinery must be assessed together before automatic service.

Working method

1. Before work, authorised personnel confirm the load and its centre of gravity, the permitted machine configuration, the route and receiving position. Complete the checks specified for the equipment, verify protective functions by the approved method and stop if a defect affects safe operation.

2. Validate the route and station handshakes during commissioning, then release only secured and correctly identified loads to the dispatch system. After a protective stop, inspect the cause and clear the zone before an authorised reset; reset must not be treated as permission for an unsafe restart.

3. After the task, place the load on stable supports and leave the equipment in its prescribed safe state. Record faults and abnormal events. Maintenance or jam clearance requires secure isolation of relevant energy, including stored hydraulic, pneumatic and gravitational energy.

Precautions and maintenance

Do not bypass protective scanners, bumpers or access controls. Reassess safety after changing speed, load overhang, route, protective fields or station interfaces. ISO 3691-4 concerns driverless industrial trucks within its scope; it is not a product certificate.

Inspection frequency, wear/discard criteria, lubrication, brake adjustment and replacement parts follow the supplied instructions and applicable local requirements. Only competent personnel may maintain the equipment; return to service follows the prescribed checks.

Configuration and standards

This is an equipment-selection and operating-principle overview, not a complete operator manual, lift plan or certificate. Verify rated load, duty, geometry, environment and protective functions against the nameplate, approved drawings and delivered instructions. Do not combine separate series maxima into one promised configuration.

Requirements follow the destination and installation, not the website language. China: determine the applicable GB/T references and statutory equipment obligations. EAEU destinations: check the applicable TR CU/EAEU regulations, amendments and conformity documents. English-speaking markets: select the relevant national rules; US OSHA and UK HSE references are not universal law. EU projects require their own applicable conformity assessment.