Autonomous guided vehicles in practice
Smart autonomous guided vehicles offer many benefits for the logistics processes of pharmaceutical manufacturers and for goods transport in hospitals. AGVs are easy to integrate into existing logistics systems and can be flexibly adapted to suit the space available.Technological expertise in autonomous guided vehicles
Totally Integrated Automation (TIA), the industrial automation solution from Siemens, enables all automation components to work together efficiently. Based on the proven SIMATIC controllers and I/O devices, AGVs are easy to introduce into new and existing logistics processes and production facilities.Navigation by laser
Manual transportation of items like laundry, food, and medications in hospitals is still common practice. The same goes for drug manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry. Using automated systems, however, can take the load off the logistics systems and improve both efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This innovative solution from Siemens keeps the necessary investment to a minimum: Because laser scanners take care of the navigation, there’s no need for the kind of costly indoor modifications that would be necessary with magnetic navigation or contact line and induction systems. AGVs from Siemens can identify obstacles and move around them, stop automatically for hazards, and thus making them especially flexible to use.
Easy to integrate
The technology used in the vehicles consists of industrial components proven a thousand times and meets the special requirements of hospitals and pharmaceutical industry in terms of hygiene, safety, and reliability. This technology realizes the first autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) system using standard industrial hardware and software. Developed by Siemens the autonomous navigation system is able to move around freely. Thanks to the proven SIMATIC controllers and I/O devices, the system can be introduced into new and existing logistics facilities. Seamless integration is possible both horizontally (SCADA systems, SAP, MES) and vertically with interfaces to rack entry and retrieval systems.