AGV Sensor for high-accuracy positioning. Meet Triton

AGVs can add immediate value in automating operations and improving efficiencies for manufacturers. AGVs can be added as needed so there is no great outlay in capital improvements. To further automate, AGV navigation can be added to mobile robot fleets.

Sensor for automated guided vehicles

Accerion’s positioning system and AGV sensor support a diverse range of industries and specialized applications. Accerion was founded by Willem-Jan Lamers after an epiphany – the global economy was entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and since 2015, Accerion has been perfecting localization technology and AGV sensors for the mobile robotics industry.

AGV sensor: meet Triton

Fast-forward to 2021, and mobile robots and AGVs are evolving at an exponential rate with new uses and applications being developed every day. Our AGV sensor evolves as our customer needs – and markets – change. We’ve been focused on logistics and manufacturing, but our technology is universally applicable in other specialized applications such as Goods to Person.

AGV Navigation

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) may look like something from a sci-fi film, but the truth is, these industrial mobile robots are relevant now more than ever, and their use is booming in intralogistics and manufacturing applications.

About AGVs en AMRs

Growing market

The global AGV market alone is expected to grow from $2B to $3.72B by 2028, and we see many warehouse operators – whether in manufacturing, intralogistics or other application areas – moving forward with their plans to automate.

Take the manufacturing industry.

How does Triton work?

Our newest positioning system, Triton, sets the new standard in positioning for manufacturers and logistics operators who demand the highest degree of flexibility, adaptability, speed and precision.

Guiding Mobile Robots into the Future

Consisting of an optical AGV sensor, an integrated processing unit, and Accerion’s algorithms, Triton scans the floor surface beneath robots and uses it as a reference. Triton uses the floor surface as a map to provide coordinates to the AGV’s navigation system so robots can localize themselves in the environment.

Your floor is literally Triton’s map, so there is no infrastructure required. No magnetic tape, no laser reflectors, no QR codes.

Improved performance and new features for Triton

Accerion is at the center of the world’s fastest-growing and evolving tech sector. To play in this arena, we anticipate customer needs and add greater functionality to our positioning products. With the latest update, we’ve added a floor qualifier function to the newest generation of AGV sensor. The floor qualifier is used to assess the performance of Triton on a floor type.

AGV sensor for high-accuracy positioning

We developed the floor qualifier internally for our customer success team, but it’s proven so valuable we’re making it available on Tritons for every customer. And we’ve introduced an idle mode that reduces owner consumption. The software can now go into a 6-watt idle mode from 15 watts, using 60 percent less power while in idle mode.

Natural (feature) navigation AGV

Which is where Triton, Accerion’s navigation AGV system, comes in to help manufacturers scale quickly. Natural navigation for AGVs at its best.

Triton allows AGVs to drive fast and accurately, down to the sub-millimeter level. Triton’s secret sauce is its infrastructure-free feature, meaning there are no wires in the floor, reflectors or QR codes. Triton uses the “signatures” or nuances in the existing warehouse floor as a map, then sends those coordinates to the AGV navigation system.

AGV laser navigation

To get anywhere, you need a map. This is especially true for mobile robots, and this is where SLAM comes in.

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping – or SLAM – is a method used to create a map of an environment while localizing a moving mobile robot in the environment at the same time. SLAM is a method using a system of components that requires an odometry source and a global perception system.

Accerion’s customers, including warehouse operators, e-commerce companies and manufacturers, use AGV laser navigation to create a map for their mobile robots and fleets for specific operations. The AGV laser navigation is to ensure a bounded global accuracy while mapping the floor in a large operational area.

AMR navigation

Once the environment is mapped, all you need is Triton for AGV and AMR navigation.

Accerion uses computer vision so AGVs and AMRs operate accurately and reliably in high-performance intralogistics operations. Once the floor is mapped, the Triton sensor can do pure localization and provide pose corrections out of the box using only the floor.

Key feature

This key feature – infrastructure-free guidance of mobile robots – enables AMRs to perform precision work autonomously, even in dynamic environments.

For the end-user, Triton’s AGV and AMR navigation are used effectively in high-performance applications such as inbound logistics, replenishment of picking stock, Goods to Person, Person to Goods, load consolidation/marshalling and further in the supply chain, parcel sortation. For all applications, Triton’s sub-millimeter repeat accuracy results in faster driving, faster docking and more effective fleet operation.

Where are we going from here?

Our mission is to take our unique AGV sensor and positioning technology to AGV manufacturers all over the world. So, the short answer is, we’re going everywhere, guiding mobile robots into the future.