Chinese media reported yesterday that the country’s first-ever anti-explosion heavy-duty automated guided vehicle (AGV) rolled off the production line in an industrial park of Xi’an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi.
The AGV, Pangu No.1, was named after a mythical Chinese God who is said to create the world, and developed by ChengHe Automation, a local industrial company.
With a dimension of 9.5m (length), 2.5m (width) and 0.9m (height), the vehicle has the appearance of an over-sized platform trailer.
The vehicle, which adopts an axle structure, has a payload of 55 tons. It comes with independently developed 3D lidars, a differential BeiDou satellite navigation system, and inertial navigation technologies.
These attributes allow the AGV to autonomously plan its route, avoid obstacles, and comply with traffic curbs.
They also enable monitoring of the device’s real-time status from afar.
Notably, this AGV can pilot itself along pre-laid rails or cables on the floor, or using radio waves, visual camera, magnet or laser beams.
Media reports didn’t say where the large-sized AGV will be used, but suggest that these types of machines tend to be deployed near industrial constructions, such as factories or warehouses, to transport heavy materials.
According to Jiang Zhongwei, general manager of ChengHe Automation, which manufactured the AGV, it contains cutting-edge anti-explosion technologies and can replace manpower at flour factory, cement factory, large-sized mines, and aerospace and aviation sectors that inherently are prone to blast risks.
“This robot will greatly boost work efficiency and ensure production safety,” said Jiang.
AGVs are widely adopted in industry to transport materials to relieve human workload and enhance work efficiency.
