AUTOMATION & ROBOTICS
5 STEPS TO DESIGNING SAFETY INTO AGVS Step 1: Review the rules and know the automation
here are many important aspects to consider when developing an automated guided vehicle or AGV. Reliability and robustness are obviously key, as is high accuracy and a competitive price. However, B2B buyers also demand that manufacturers prioritise safety. Indeed, complying with safety norms is mandatory to achieve CE certification. So, how can you ensure and prove your vehicles are fit for purpose and can operate safely on-site? Grégoire Terrien, the VP of Development at vehicle automation specialist BlueBotics, recommends a five-step approach.
T safety standards
As a starting point, AGVs must comply with the appropriate local legislation. Rules and regulations can vary by region, so if you are targeting multiple markets, a vehicle’s design may need to be compatible with multiple different standards. In Europe, for example, manufacturers need to review ISO 3691-4:2020: Indus- trial trucks - Safety requirements and verification - Part 4: Driverless industrial trucks and their systems. In the USA, however, this would be instead ANSI B56.5- 2019: Safety standard for driverless, automatic guided industrial vehicles and automated functions of manned industrial vehicles. If you are not already familiar with these documents, it may be worth speaking to an expert. In addition, it is also important to check whether a customer has additional inter- nal safety regulations that must also be considered.
Step 2: Understand your customers’ sites The problem with defining features that need to be included in an AGV is that you could easily end up with a very long wish list, covering everything your customers might ever like to see in a vehicle. However, building all this in could make your design impractical or even impossible, not to mention exploding your costs. So how do you know which features are essential to include and prioritise? The answer comes from understanding how the AGV will be used, the chal- lenges it needs to overcome, and any safety implications that need to be incor- porated. Spending time on customers’ sites to see how they operate and what difficulties they face will give you a much clearer understanding of what your AGV needs to provide. You will also learn about typical on-site limitations, enabling you to design a more robust vehicle that can safely manage the inevitable nuan- ces and variations of different customer locations.
For example, the design of a forklift capable of reaching pallets several metres above the ground might also need to incorporate a proximity sensor at the top to suit sites with lower ceilings.
Step 3: Think about the different people that may be on site
Although most AGVs will be operated by competent, trained personnel, do not forget that there will probably be other people on-site too who will need to inter- act with your vehicles.
How can you help keep them safer? What audio alerts will be optimal? What additional features will help ensure safety, for example, by providing clear warn- ings or indications concerning a vehicle’s path?
For example, the Oppent team programmed its ANT® driven EVOcart robots to indicate when making a turn to help make them safer around human colleagues. Just like a passenger car, they flash lights on the left or right to show their direc- tion of travel.
Some vehicle navigation solutions, such as ANT® by BlueBotics, are programmed with such additional features. While not rated as a safety component (its perform- ance level is PLc), ANT®’s fleet management software (ANT® server) can also be used to integrate an AGV operation with other components of the working en- vironment, such as communicating automatically with automatic doors and even elevators.
In the case of a fleet of vehicles, how will these interact with each other? For example, ISO 3691-4:2020 specifies how much free space must be left between an AGV and fixed obstacles such as walls. Is this behaviour something that staff can easily predict and be trained on? Is the traffic control of the fleet automatic by default, but also customizable if required?
Step 4: What steps do you need to enforce safety? While customer safety training is a crucial aspect of supplying AGVs, what systems can you build into your vehicle to enforce safety measures? For example: *
* At some Toyota factories, tow tractors are prevented from reversing if they have a cart attached. *
* Speeds could be automatically lowered if an AGV has a load above a certain weight.
* It may make sense for a forklift to only move when its forks have been lowered. *
8 FEBRUARY 2022 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS
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