More than 20,000 votes were cast in the readers' poll of materialfluss, the specialist medium for logistics and intralogistics. Five solutions and products competed for victory in the AGV category.

materialfluss PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2021 - AGV category

1st place: Karis autonomous AGV
The Gebhardt Karis is a modular AGV that provides scalable and efficient support for in-house material flow. With three different designs, the Karis solution portfolio covers the transportation of small load carriers, containers, trays and cardboard boxes, as well as pallets and pallet cages. Special load carriers are also no problem thanks to the vertical range of manufacture and modularity. The system is based on free and intelligent, contour-based navigation - once learned, the AGV plans the paths independently, learns when the environment changes and updates the map itself. Integrated safety functions prevent collisions with obstacles. Karis is a safe, efficient and scalable addition to intralogistics concepts.

2nd place: Servus Intralogistics - Servus-Lifter
The Servus modular logistics system was expanded in 2020: With the Servus-Lifter, Servus Intralogistics has developed the world's first two-part transport robot that moves horizontally and can be extended vertically up to a length of six meters. For the first time, the intelligent transport robot supplies all stations in the warehouse or in production with materials such as containers, cartons, trays or polystyrene parts at different heights or transports material into the warehouse fully automatically. And it does so without touching the floor - because the Servus-Lifter travels "overhead" under the hall ceiling. This saves valuable production space. With Servus, warehouse and production merge into one unit. The Servus Lifter is flexible and multifunctional: it stores and retrieves and connects decentralized buffers with assembly stations, Kanban racks and automatic supermarkets.

3rd place: Mobile Industrial Robots - MiR250 autonomous mobile robot
Every centimetre counts in the warehouse and on the assembly line. Where forklifts and tugger trains get in the way and conventional AGVs are too big, the MiR250 mobile robot is now "revolutionizing" (manufacturer's statement) the material flow: 58 cm x 80 cm small and 30 cm high, it can carry up to 250 kg - a first on the market for this size. More agile and maneuverable than similarly sized models, it is particularly suitable for supplying production lines. It fits through 80 cm narrow door openings and uses elevators independently. The MiR250 uses sensor technology and software to navigate without lane guidance: it adapts its route flexibly to the conditions and moves between employees thanks to new safety features. With its robust design, the MiR250 can also cope with harsh industrial environments. Its long-lasting battery can be replaced in two minutes.

In 2020, the reader award materialfluss PRODUCT OF THE YEAR celebrated its premiere, the winners and best placed from back then can be found here.