The requirements for using wireless networks with AGV communication in an industry environment

Abstract

Ongoing changes in manufacturing, and in particular the growing importance of internal logistics based on Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV), makes the use of wireless communication in the industry no longer an option but a necessity. Wireless communication offers including lower installation costs than wired networks, less mechanical wear and tear, and the ability to provide crucial information even with moving AGVs. Robust and reliable wireless communication solutions must accommodate the demanding and changing conditions of the existing industrial environment, such as a variable number of communication elements, possible interference, a large area for which to provide communication, and an organic amount of available battery power. Several types of such communications are available and in use in manufacturing systems. For this reason, AGVs operating in a heterogeneous manufacturing environment must support a different kind of wireless communication and use them in an optimal way for the tasks performed. The aim of this paper is to analyze the different types of sensor networks and the requirements for communication with autonomous vehicles that they fulfill.