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Applications + Knowledge
| News for Factory Automation 1/2016
It is ready to use quickly, exceptionally lightweight, flexible, and can carry
loads up two-thirds its own weight: The new “LEO Locative” automated
guided vehicle from BITO will be launched onto the market in fall 2016.
Sensors from Pepperl+Fuchs are being used to ensure the autonomous
system always remains on track.
LEO reliably travels the rounds, as defined by the colored tape on the
floor. At the designated stations, the autonomous transport system
unloads containers and cartons weighing up to 20 kilograms and at
the same time picks up new ones – all this when the unit itself weighs
only 30 kilograms. During this process, it is vital that LEO does not
veer off track and collisions are avoided.
Six sensors from Pepperl+Fuchs are used to ensure just that. The
R2100 2-D laser scanner monitors the distance to the vehicles in front
using Pulse Ranging Technology, providing reliable protection against
collisions. The PGV100 positioning system also operates without
making contact. It ensures that the transport system does not veer off
track from the colored tape. The exact position is determined using
Data Matrix codes. “This enables LEO to approach the stations in a
targeted manner. However, it is also possible for the positioning sys-
tem to bypass a transfer station if it is already occupied, for example.
In this case, LEO will visit the station during its next round,” says
Hicham El Menaouar, Sales Engineer at Pepperl+Fuchs. The transport
system is equipped with light sensors and thru-beam sensors that
make it possible to check whether vehicles and transfer stations are
occupied.
Travelling along the Circular Path
“Nowadays, automated guided vehicles are used in a whole host of
areas,” says Dennis Ramers, Product Manager for Machines at BITO.
“With LEO Locative, however, we have brought a completely new and
unique system onto the market: It is cost-effective, easy to operate,
extremely flexible, and weighs only around 50 kilograms when fully
loaded.” The circular path along which the automated guided vehicle
travels can easily be changed and adapted to suit local conditions at
any time. LEO follows a visual path in the form of colored tape; this
tape can simply be pasted onto the floor and removed again just as
Autonomous
and on Track
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