Common driving modes of AGV includes:
1. Differential driving
Differential driving is usually composed of a pair of driving wheels. The linear or curvilinear motion is achieved through the speed difference between the two wheels. It can be divided into free-axis differential driving and fixed-axis differential driving. For the AGV with free-axis differential driving, the driving wheels and magnetic sensors can rotate significantly relative to the vehicle body. It has a small turning radius and flexible movement, being suitable for towed AGVs. For the AGV with fixed-axis differential driving, the driving wheels are integrated with the vehicle body. The power output is smoother and the speed is faster, but the turning radius is larger, being suitable for straight paths with high speed requirements.
2. Single Rudder Wheel Driving
Mostly, it is a three-wheel vehicle type. A hinged steering wheel in the front is used as the driving wheel, and there are two following wheels at the rear, with the steering controlled by the front wheel. This structure is simple and low in cost, but has poor flexibility. It is suitable for towed AGVs and forklift AGVs, being applicable to the handling of large-tonnage goods.
3. Dual Rudder Wheel Driving
It is an omnidirectional AGV. There is a rudder wheel installed at the front and rear of the vehicle body respectively, equipped with following wheels, and the steering is controlled by the front and rear rudder wheels. It can achieve 360° rotation and omnidirectional transverse movement, with high flexibility, but high cost and strict requirements for ground flatness. It is suitable for heavy-duty latent AGVs or parking robots.
4. Differential Wheel Driving
Differential wheels are installed on the left and right sides of the vehicle body as driving wheels, and the others are following wheels. It has high flexibility and can achieve 360° rotation, but cannot move in all directions. It has high requirements for ground flatness and a relatively light load-bearing...
5. Omni-wheel Drive
Omni-wheel drive adopts specially designed omni-directional wheels, such as Mecanum wheels or orthogonal wheels. The Mecanum wheel has rollers distributed in a certain pattern on its circumference. Through the combination of the rotation speeds and directions of different wheels, the AGV can move in any direction in the plane, including lateral movement, diagonal movement and rotation in place. It has extremely high motion flexibility and can adapt to complex and narrow working spaces and diverse operation requirements. However, its structure is complex, the cost is high, and the control system requirements are also very high. The orthogonal wheel realizes omnidirectional movement through the combination of mutually perpendicular wheels, and also has high flexibility and mobility.
6. Track Drive
Track drive is similar to the track structure of a tank, and realizes forward, backward and turning movements through the rotation of two tracks. This drive method can provide great traction and grip, and is suitable for driving on uneven, soft or obstacle-ridden ground. It has advantages in some harsh environments such as construction sites and mines. However, tracked AGVs have relatively slow running speeds, large turning radii, and high track wear and maintenance costs.
