The Whirlpool company in Naples, completely redesigned the washing machine production flow, dividing it into multiple sections.

The transportation of pallets containing the washing machines, as they are gradually assembled, is handled by an AGV system consisting of 12 vehicles that operate in a very narrow layout consisting of a single straight aisle overlooked by the various pickup/drop-off stations.

The AGV system was chosen for its flexibility in the event of future modifications.

AGV orders are created via digital signals at each loading and unloading station.

Given the high production flow, special attention was paid to the timing of AGV task assignments to avoid production losses and maintain the AGV system’s high throughput capacity.

The system is connected to various terminals located throughout the layout, from which operators can interact with the system using dedicated menus.

The previous company that was handling the commissioning, simply left the layout due to various communication and organizational problems.

We had to take over the project and work fast as the customer was loosing too much production.

The real problem was that AGVs didn’t use the correct protocol to communicate with the central computer, so in 2 weeks we had to rewrite it and get AGVs running.

Onve the AGV system was running, the customer was very happy and everything went well, so we could complete the commissioning in peace and quite.

AGV navigation type: inductive wire guidance

Traffic controller: 486 PC, in warm backup, with Digiboard multiserial ports, connected to all devices on the layout, DI/DO signals and infrared transreceivers to communicate with AGVs, no host communication.

Charging concept: AGVs are running in a loop, so that on each station a charging contact was mounted on a side, and the AGV could charge every pick or drop operation.

This AGV system is working over two shifts.

Number of AGVs: 12

AGV manufacturer: Digitron.

Function: AGV traffic controller development, order handling.

Year: 1996