An automated guided vehicle (AGV) is a driverless vehicle that moves materials along a defined path. Its AGV components fall into a handful of subsystems: chassis, drive units, navigation, safety, controller, battery and charging, load handling, and the user interface. Builders need to know how these fit together to design a vehicle; buyers need to know them to compare one. Most AGV system components are bought in (motors, sensors, batteries, electronics), but the mechanical parts that hold them are usually made to the builder’s drawing, and they decide how well the vehicle tracks, senses and survives shift after shift.
What does AGV stand for? AGV vs AMR
AGV stands for automated guided vehicle: a vehicle that follows guidance installed in the facility or a predefined route. AMR stands for autonomous mobile robot: a vehicle that builds a map and plans its own path around obstacles with onboard sensors. Vendors use the terms loosely, so ask how a given vehicle navigates.
| AGV | AMR | |
|---|---|---|
| Guidance | Magnetic tape, wire, reflectors, floor codes, or a fixed virtual route | Natural-feature navigation (LiDAR, cameras, SLAM) |
| Flexibility | Route changes mean changing the guidance | Re-routes around obstacles; new routes in software |
| Typical payload | Often heavy: pallets, carts, towed trains | Often light to medium: totes, carts, shelves |
| Infrastructure | Guidance installed in the floor or walls | Little or none beyond a map |
The mechanical building blocks are much the same for both.
What is an AGV in manufacturing?
In a plant, an AGV moves parts, totes, pallets or carts between workstations, lines and storage without a driver. Typical jobs:
- Line-side delivery of parts and kits to assembly stations.
- Work-in-progress transfer between process steps.
- Pallet handling between docks, storage and wrapping.
- Towing carts or trains along a fixed route (tugger AGVs).
Common vehicle types follow from those jobs: unit-load AGVs with a deck, tugger or towing AGVs, forklift AGVs, and automated guided carts (AGC) for light loads.
The main AGV components
Each subsystem below is bought, built or both. The mechanical parts inside them are what we machine as custom AGV parts for vehicle builders.
Chassis and frame
The chassis carries the load and everything else: deck, drive units, battery bay, sensors and enclosures. Its stiffness keeps the wheels aligned under payload, and its datum faces locate the sensors. Chassis are built from machined plate, welded steel, aluminum extrusion or a mix. Machined plates give flat datum faces and accurate bores for drive units and brackets; welded steel is cheap and strong but moves during welding; extrusions are modular and quick to change. Heavy unit-load AGVs lean toward steel; compact AMRs toward pocketed aluminum.
Drive units and wheels
The drive unit turns motor torque into motion: motor, gearbox, wheel hub, wheel and its bearings, often with a suspension to keep traction on uneven floors. Common layouts:
- Differential drive: two driven wheels and casters; steering by speed difference.
- Steerable drive wheel: a driven wheel on a steering pivot, often one or two per vehicle.
- Mecanum or omni wheels: sideways and diagonal motion for tight spaces.
- Casters: passive wheels that carry load and stabilize the vehicle.
Navigation system
Navigation tells the vehicle where it is and where to go. Options range from fixed to free:
- Magnetic tape or embedded wire along the route.
- Laser target (reflector) navigation: a rotating laser measures reflectors on walls and columns.
- QR or floor codes read by a downward camera.
- Natural-feature navigation: LiDAR and SLAM match the surroundings to a map, as AMRs do.
- Vision for localization and docking.
Sensor mounts matter here: a LiDAR that shifts after a bump gives the navigation stack bad data.
Safety system
Safety laser scanners define protective and warning fields around the vehicle; bumpers stop it on contact; emergency stops and warning lights complete the system. Vehicle makers design to ISO 3691-4 (driverless industrial trucks and their systems), ANSI/ITSDF B56.5 in North America, and ANSI/RIA R15.08-1 for industrial mobile robots. Compliance is the vehicle maker’s responsibility; the parts are made to the drawings that support it.
Vehicle controller and software
The controller runs motion control (wheel speeds, steering, lift), reads the navigation and safety sensors, and talks to a fleet manager that assigns jobs and manages traffic. The controller sits in an enclosure that has to protect electronics from dust, vibration and sometimes washdown.
Battery and charging
Lithium-ion batteries are common on new vehicles: light, long-lived and suited to opportunity charging (short top-ups at stations during the shift). Lead-acid remains on older and heavier vehicles. Charging is by contacts on the vehicle that meet a floor or wall station, or by battery swap.
Load handling
The top module is the most application-specific part of the vehicle: lift tables, roller or conveyor tops, tow hitches, fork modules. It is usually designed around the customer’s load.
User interface and connectivity
An HMI panel or touchscreen for local operation, status lights, and Wi-Fi or private 5G for the fleet manager. It is the smallest subsystem mechanically, but it needs mounts and a sealed housing.
AGV components list
| Component | Function | Main parts | Machined parts inside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chassis and frame | Carries loads, locates everything | Frame, deck, battery bay | Chassis plates, deck plates, brackets |
| Drive units | Move and steer the vehicle | Motor, gearbox, wheel, bearings, suspension | Drive-unit housings, motor mounts, hubs, axles, steering pivots |
| Navigation | Localize and follow the route | LiDAR, cameras, magnetic or code sensors | Sensor brackets, camera housings |
| Safety | Detect people and obstacles, stop | Safety scanners, bumpers, e-stops | Scanner brackets, bumper brackets, e-stop housings |
| Controller | Motion control and fleet link | Controller, drives, I/O | Controller enclosures, heat sinks |
| Battery and charging | Store and take on energy | Battery pack, BMS, charging contacts | Battery housings and trays, contact holders, busbar supports |
| Load handling | Lift, convey, tow | Lift, rollers, hitch, forks | Lift plates, guide blocks, screw-drive parts |
| User interface | Local control, status, network | HMI, lights, radios | Panel mounts, antenna brackets |
The mechanical components: how they are designed and machined
The subsystems above are mostly bought in. The parts that hold them together are not: they are specific to each vehicle, and their accuracy decides tracking, sensor alignment and service life.
Chassis plates. Flatness of the main mounting face and datum faces for the drive units and sensors come first; pocketing removes mass where the plate is not carrying load. A machined AGV chassis is dimensioned from those datums so that every module bolts on in a known position. For AMRs and other mobile robots built around one main structure, see our robot chassis for AMRs.
Drive-unit housings and motor mounts. Bearing bores must be coaxial, motor pilots must fit the motor spigot, and the axes of the left and right wheels must stay parallel; a skewed drive unit wears tires and pulls the vehicle off its path. Our drive motor mounts are machined to the same datums as the housing they bolt to. Drive-stage gears are made to the builder’s drawing and to the grade on that drawing.
Wheel hubs, axles and drive shafts. Bearing journals and hub bores are machined to fits per ISO 286 (the bearing maker’s recommendation sets the class). 17-4PH suits shafts exposed to moisture; 42CrMo suits highly loaded axles.
Sensor brackets. Safety scanners and navigation LiDARs are located by dowel pins on a machined face, so a bracket removed for service goes back to the same position and the sensor does not need recalibration. See our LiDAR brackets.
Battery housings and controller enclosures. Flat sealing faces and grooves for the IP class required (IEC 60529), a heat path from the electronics to the housing wall or a heat sink, and enough stiffness that vibration does not loosen connectors.
| Material | Typical AGV parts | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 6061-T6 / 7075-T6 aluminum | Chassis plates, brackets, housings, enclosures | Black anodizing or hard anodizing |
| 42CrMo, 20CrMnTi, 8620 steel | Axles, shafts, hubs, gear-stage parts | Black oxide or electroless nickel |
| 17-4PH stainless | Shafts and pivots exposed to moisture | Electroless nickel or none |
| POM, PEEK | Guide blocks, wear pads, insulators | None |
Laser marking adds part numbers and revision IDs, so parts from prototype and pilot builds never mix.
Choosing components for a new AGV or AMR design
- Payload: mass, center of gravity and how it is loaded.
- Floor conditions: flatness, joints, ramps, debris, wet areas.
- Navigation method: fixed guidance or natural-feature navigation, and what the facility allows.
- Duty cycle and charging strategy: shifts, opportunity charging or battery swap.
- Safety concept: speeds, protective fields, the standards the vehicle must meet.
- Service access: which modules must come out quickly, and how they relocate.
- Volume: a single prototype, a pilot fleet or repeat batches, since it changes how parts are made and inspected. Delivery robots are a common case where prototypes and a pilot fleet run in parallel.
Building an AGV or AMR?
Send us your part drawings (). An engineer reviews manufacturability before quoting, and the same inspection plan carries from the prototype vehicle to the pilot fleet.
FAQ
What does AGV stand for?
Automated guided vehicle: a driverless vehicle that follows a defined path to move materials.
What do AGV and AMR stand for?
Automated guided vehicle and autonomous mobile robot. AMRs plan their own route with onboard sensors; AGVs follow guidance installed in the facility.
What is an AGV in manufacturing?
A vehicle that moves parts, pallets or carts between workstations and storage without a driver.
What are the main components of an AGV?
Chassis, drive units, navigation, safety system, controller, battery and charging, and load-handling equipment.
Which AGV parts are custom machined?
Chassis plates, drive-unit housings, motor mounts, wheel hubs, sensor brackets and battery or controller housings are often made to the builder’s drawing.
