Transport robots in production automation

AGVs in three variants

The general contractor has developed the FFT-IGV automated guided vehicle system to expand its range of services and meet customer requirements for flexible automation solutions for the logistical interlinking of their production facilities. "Our customers expect a production environment perfectly tailored to their requirements from a single source. That's why we decided to produce our own AGV," says Christian Schuster, Account Manager at FFT.

The driverless transport system is available in three versions. The FFT-IGV One S is the versatile basic model with bidirectional drive and a load capacity of up to 1.5 tons. In the FFT-IGV Elevate version, the vehicle has an integrated lift table and can lift a load of up to one tonne to a height of 1.56 meters. The FFT-IGV Agility model can navigate omnidirectionally and has an integrated lifting unit (stroke: 150 millimetres). "The big advantage of our AGV is that it can be controlled via the PLC as an integral part of the overall system. This simplifies the system architecture and avoids a customer having to deal with two different systems," explains Jan Kreuzer, Electrical Project Manager.

High charging power for large loads

The FFT-IGV is equipped with inductive charging technology from Wiferion as standard. "Due to the tight cycle times in the body shop and the highly staggered cycles, it was clear to us from the outset that we would rely on wireless charging for the power supply," explains Jan Kreuzer. "As the Eta-Link system is the standard here and several thousand systems are already successfully in use, Wiferion was the only option for us." The challenge was that the robots had to be loaded with high currents in a short space of time due to the heavy goods being transported. Wiferion therefore developed an energy system consisting of high-performance batteries and a charger that was tailored to these requirements. The FFT-IGV has two Eta-Link 3000 fast charging systems, which are connected in parallel to provide a charging capacity of six kilowatts and supply the batteries with energy at a charging rate of 2 C.

FFT stands for flexible manufacturing technology. The flexibility of the Eta-Link fast-charging system is therefore a decisive factor. The charging points can be placed at almost any frequently frequented location in the warehouse. When a robot drives up to a charging point, the energy transfer starts automatically and transfers the power at full capacity after just one second. "We charge our AGVs in the process. In this way, we avoid charging breaks and unproductive travel times to stationary charging stations and ensure that the vehicles are available around the clock," says Nils Kramm, Project Manager Mechanics. This enables FFT to implement highly productive production lines like the one at the BMW Group plant in Leipzig.

Worldwide, 130 charging systems are already in use in AGVs from FFT. The system supplier is currently implementing a new production facility for the BMW Group at the Leipzig plant with a double-digit number of robots.