Handling heavy loads: think AGVs
For many years Solving has pioneered both AGV and air film technology, and currently leads the way in developing larger and heavier capacity products to meet the ever-growing market.
BASED IN Newbury, Berkshire, Solving sells, installs and services AGV and air film systems in the UK and Ireland. Using a network of maintenance and repair engineers, we are able to support a growing customer base with rapid response and spares backup.
Solving provides customised heavy load battery-powered AGVs (automated guided vehicles) for a variety of industrial applications. The latest AGV navigation system uses factory contours, such as walls and other fixed objects, to map the facility during commissioning. Pick-up and drop-off points are then programmed in to provide a complete picture of the route, and floor-fitted reference discs can be used to provide pinpoint accuracy with positional information.
The latest development in Solving’s successful AGV technology is intended for handling industrial robots. Conventional production lines provide for the manufactured product to be introduced to the robot or robots, which are fixed to the floor through substantial foundations. For heavy industry, where it is not always practical to move the manufactured product, Solving provides multidirectional AGV platforms that accurately manoeuvre the robot to the various scenes of the required activities. Precise location is achieved using multidirectional drives and, once the robot has arrived, the AGV platform lowers to the floor to provide the stability needed for the robot to perform.
Using a combination of modern battery technology, low-profile high-capacity wheels and motors, robots of any weight, size and function can be programmed and guided safely and automatically through a complex series of movements to suit a variety of assembly processes. Solving AGVs are unhindered by trailing hoses, wires or cables, and the integral battery system can be charged automatically while the units are stationary, giving them a theoretically unlimited range. Safety scanners are mounted on all corners of the AGV with the capability to slow down or stop, depending on the obstruction detected.
Solving specialises in unusual, non-standard AGV applications, where off-the-shelf alternatives would be inappropriate. A conceptual design team has therefore been established to advise on suitable solutions.
Despite the growth in the large-capacity AGV marketplace, there remains a place for air film products. The latest Solving air-bearing transporter or Mover is now equipped with on-board processors that receive signals from proximity sensors, radio controllers, laser scanners and wire-in-floor or painted line detectors, to ensure they follow the intended path whilst minimising risk of injury to personnel or damage to surrounding equipment. It is now possible for a single operator to manoeuvre a 300t transformer to an accuracy of millimetres, move it sideways or rotate it about a virtual centre, using radio control to give him or her total freedom to view any side of the moving load. Moving a heavy load on air requires a paper-smooth floor and a permanent air supply; these unavoidable features can be an inconvenience but are regularly considered worthwhile sacrifices to gain the advantage of moving such large products through an assembly process.
In its quest for developing new solutions to satisfy the increasing need for safety, automation, efficiency and convenience, Solving has now combined the attributes of air bearings and wheels to create the Hybrid Mover. For accurate movement and positioning of heavy loads in a confined space an air supply is connected to operate integral air bearings, but for long distances the air bearings retract and heavy-duty wheels take over, driven and steered by onboard batteries.
For more information, visit www.solving.com
