As one of the core equipment of intelligent logistics, mobile handling robots have experienced explosive growth in recent years. In the mobile robot market, besides AGV, RGV and IGV also play their respective roles in the automated logistics system. However, many people do not have a clear conceptual distinction between AGV, IGV and RGV.

RGV, the English abbreviation of Rail Guided Vehicle, is also called rail shuttle car. RGV car can be used in all kinds of warehouses with high-density storage mode. The aisle of the car can be designed to be any length, which can improve the storage capacity of the whole warehouse, and it is safer to operate without forklift driving into the roadway. Taking advantage of the fact that the forklift does not need to enter the roadway and cooperating with the rapid operation of the trolley in the roadway, the operation efficiency of the warehouse is effectively improved.

AGV is the abbreviation of Automated Guided Vehicle, which means "Automated Guided Vehicle". AGV is a transport vehicle equipped with electromagnetic or optical automatic guiding devices, which can travel along the prescribed guiding path, with safety protection and various load shifting functions.

IGV is an Intelligent Guided Vehicle. Compared with AGV, IGV is more flexible and does not need any markers to drive; Moreover, the path is flexible and changeable, and it can be flexibly scheduled according to the actual production demand, and the planning is simple, which meets the use needs of most factories.

To sum up, from the point of view of automation and intelligence, RGV《AGV《IGV, RGV is an orbital movement, which can only shuttle along the track. Some AGVs need to use logos, such as magnetic stripe QR code. IGV can run completely autonomously.

Scene application has its own advantages.

From RGV to IGV, it also shows the development trend of mobile robots to some extent, which is more intelligent, requires fewer auxiliary tools and has a higher degree of flexibility. But this does not mean that IGV will replace other devices in the future. At least for now, they all have their own advantages in different application scenarios.

As a rail shuttle, RGV can be automatically connected with other logistics systems, such as delivery/storage platforms, various buffer stations, conveyors, elevators and robots, etc., to transport materials as planned. Although its flexibility and flexibility are lower than AGV and RGV, its operation efficiency is higher. At the same time, because RGV often needs to be used in conjunction with other equipment, most of the manufacturers are logistics integrators, and there are fewer companies that do RGV alone.

AGV has been in the limelight in recent years, and it has a wide range of applications in e-commerce warehousing and manufacturing. Compared with RGV, AGV has a high degree of automation and intelligence, and its driving path can be flexibly changed according to changes in storage requirements and production process, and the cost of changing the driving path is very low compared with traditional conveyor belts and rigid transmission lines.

The IGV is suitable for application scenarios with higher requirements for flexibility. On the basis of meeting the routine handling function, IGV can selectively carry different functional modules (such as jack-up module, traction module, drum line module, etc.) according to the customer's technological process, which can meet the purpose of multi-purpose for one vehicle, but the price is relatively high.

Future trend-integrated development?

In different scenes, RGV, AGV and IGV each play their own advantages, but with the development of technology, the future trend may be the integration of multiple functions, one car for multiple purposes, to maximize efficiency and save costs.