Strategies of Control Applied in Autonomous Guided Vehicles

Autonomous guided vehicles, called AGVs, are important components of factory automation and manufacture system integration that requires both technical and management skills. In this paper, an AGV prototype equipped with IR detectors and IR range sensors is programming to follow a route line on the floor and avoid some obstacles on the way. The motion of the experimental AGV is promote by two DC motor with build-in gearbox, working with simultaneous PWM control in closed-loop operation. This AGV is designed to operate in environments such as offices and shop floor, in order to carry light loads on flat surfaces and ramps with positive and negative inclination. Simulations tests with ADAMS^® are compared with some experimental results in order to validate the model and the prototype approaches.