Design of AGV systems in working environments shared with humans: A multi case study
Paper in proceeding, 2020

To meet the challenges and needs of an ever-changing market and as part of the fourth industrial revolution, factories are transforming into increasingly automated environments. A widely used and well-established solution today is Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), which often work closely with humans in crowded environments. Thus, in addition to flexibility, another important criterion associated with automatic handling systems is safety. The purpose of this work is to show how the involvement of three different but equally important roles in the design of an AGV system can benefit the whole project. The advantage of considering three different perspectives is the possibility of obtaining a more complete vision from the earliest stages of implementation, avoiding, as far as possible, the need to make changes in the next stages, which would generate higher costs than necessary. The article is based on two case studies, each one set in a major European manufacturing company: the first one is an Italian automotive manufacturer and the second one is a Swedish manufacturer of mechanical components. Both case companies apply AGVs in their material handling processes and, accordingly, have experience of both implementing and operating AGV systems. The article applies semi-structured interviews to study the three key roles, highlighting the key points for each role and showing the common issues that emerged from the interviews.

Regulations

Robot-human interaction

Safety

Automated Guided Vehicle

Decision process

Author

S. Zuin

University of Padua

Robin Hanson

Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Supply and Operations Management

D. Battini

University of Padua

A. Persona

University of Padua

IFAC-PapersOnLine

24058963 (eISSN)

Vol. 53 10603-10608

21st IFAC World Congress 2020
Berlin, Germany,

Subject Categories

Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics

Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified

Embedded Systems

DOI

10.1016/j.ifacol.2020.12.2814

More information

Latest update

6/29/2021