Industrial trucks - Driverless trucks

Driverless forklifts are self-guided vehicles (AGVs) used in industry to transport isolated loads from one place to another. In contrast to mass transport (e.g. conveying), AGVs rarely have specific traffic zones. This means that people and conventional carts can still pass through. The application sectors are extremely varied, and include the food, bottling, pharmaceutical, printing/paper, metallurgy, automotive, hospital and other industries.

They first appeared in the 1950s, but the technology of the time did not allow for satisfactory reliability. Today's reliable technology and powerful computing make them a practical, cost-effective system.

Of the various guidance technologies, two principles stand out:

• the first to appear was wire guidance. The VAG follows the magnetic field emitted by an electric wire placed in the ground;

• the second, which has been in operation for around 10 years, uses a laser-scanning system that enables the VAG to locate itself and carry out programmed trajectories.

It should be noted that the term "wire-guided" is often used to describe a driverless forklift truck, given the long history of this technology.