Irish materials handling manufacturer Combilift has launched its first autonomous vehicle, the Combi-AGT is a 4-wheel electric stand-on model, which is the world’s first autonomous dual operational sideloader for long loads. Source: Timberbiz
The Combi-AGT harnesses the very latest smart technology to meet customer demands for driverless sideloader capability. These were driven in part by safety to eliminate the presence of personnel in aisles, consistency in handling procedures and to maximise order fulfilment, while also having a backup manual mode in case of power outages or internet disruptions.
Combilift’s automation team has spent three years liaising with specialist suppliers to identify the best specifications for the Combi-AGT. The new model, with a lift capacity of 5,000kg and various lift heights, addresses the requirements of centres which typically handle long loads.
The laser-based sensors, fitted at various positions on the chassis, constitute an anti-collision safety system. If the machine senses an obstacle or pedestrian that has entered its path, it automatically slows down and will, if necessary, stop in cases of emergency, it will then continue to drive automatically when the obstacle has cleared its safety sensor area. The enhanced adaptive safety system enables the size of the obstacle detection. fields to increase or decrease as per the steer angle and speed of the truck.
The natural feature navigation system is superior to traditional methods of truck navigation based on wire guidance or artificial landmarks such as reflectors. Instead, it uses the naturally occurring features in a warehouse – walls, racking and columns for example, avoiding the need to add to or change the warehouse infrastructure.
Its newly developed load dimension detection system operates by performing a laser scan of the load to check that its length matches the task sent to the machine. Similarly, when unloading, it checks that the rack in front has sufficient free space to accept the load.
See the Combi-AGT in action COMBi-AGT Launch Video
