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Autonomous vehicles are transforming warehouse logistics. Elon Musk may be the one bringing self-driving cars and trucks into the mainstream, but autonomous vehicles are old news for the manufacturing and logistics industries. Driverless forklifts have been roaming warehouses since Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) were first brought to market in the 1950s. Compared to today’s standards, the technology was quite basic—the vehicles simply sensed and followed a wire buried in the floor. Over the years, the technology has advanced tremendously, with navigation and safety features similar to those found in modern automobiles. In many ways, the future of autonomous vehicles has already been here with AGVs. How AGVs and AMRs Work with Humans in Fulfillment Centers and Warehouses In food & beverage warehouses and fulfillment centers, typical AGV systems provide transportation, perform block stacking and store and retrieve pallets from racking. Wires in the floor have been replaced by inertial (gyroscopic) navigation and laser guidance, using rotating lasers and fixed reflectors to triangulate positions and movement of the vehicle. Guide paths have become virtual and can be changed quickly and wirelessly by a computer. However, the paths for these technologies are still fixed. But as the technology for navigation and safety has continued to improve, a whole new subset of AGVs have recently come to market. Autonomous Mobile Robotics (AMRs) are generally smaller, more nimble AGVs that take full advantage of the latest technology to perform more sophisticated work. There are many forms and price points, but AMRs typically include lasers to scan natural environments, QR Code scanning to detect location, 2D and 3D cameras or a combination of these strategies using ultrasound. Autonomous Mobile Robotics (AMRs) take full advantage of the latest technology to perform … [+] As a result, AMRs can make intelligent decisions to move to different […]