Integration of autonomous intelligent vehicles into manufacturing environments: challenges

As companies begin to move towards Industry 4.0 and implement Smart Manufacturing techniques, flexible manufacturing comes to the fore. This allows a facility to adapt to changing needs and demands, with less impact on production, when compared to rigid production lines. Traditionally, the introduction of new equipment into a production line is somewhat straightforward, as the equipment is generally static. In recent times however, Autonomous Intelligent Vehicles (AIVs) have become a pivotal component of smart production lines. Given there may be in excess of twenty AIVs working simultaneously, the integration challenge becomes even more complex. This paper identifies several challenges associated with the integration of an AIV into a manufacturing environment controlled by a Manufacturing Execution System (MES). Further to this a discussion of the solutions being implemented currently on a live project is provided.