Cimcorp in the News: In some respects, the general definition for what AGVs can do has not changed in a long time. An AGV is commonly defined as a computer-controlled mobile robot used to move materials around a facility. Of course, the way AGVs look and what they can do has altered, but there is nothing in that standing definition which did not apply 10 years ago.
The Chicago Connection
The AGV may be the conveyor belts of the 21st Century, but its roots are solidly in the 1950s. A Chicago-area electrical whiz named Arthur “Mac” Barrett, the founder of Barrett Electronics, created an indoor vehicle that glided along a wire rather than a more conventional track. He called it the “Guide-O-Matic” driverless vehicle, and it went to market in 1954. (The term, AGV, came into favor in the 1980s.)
But, what is the biggest difference in AGV manufacturing today, versus say, five years ago? According to Director of Business Management at Amerden, David Emanuel, “Natural Navigation” has become the new addition to the list of AGV navigation technologies obtainable to meet precise AGV System transport requirements.