AGV robot for laser-SLAM based method testing in automated container terminal

Purpose Magnet spot is the primary method to develop the automated guided vehicle (AGV) guidance system for many automated container terminals (ACT). Aiming to improve the high flexibility of AGV operation in ACT, this paper aims to address the problem of technical stability leading to ACT production paralysis and propose a mini-terminal AGV robot for testing laser simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM)-based methods in ACT operation scenarios. Design/methodology/approach This study developed a physical simulation robot for terminal AGV operations, providing a platform to test technical solutions for applying laser navigation-related technologies in ACTs. Then, the terminal-AGV navigation system framework is designed to apply the laser-SLAM-based method in the physical simulation robot. Finally, the experiment is conducted in the terminal operation scenario to verify the feasibility of the proposed framework for lased-SLAM-based method testing and analyze the performance of the different mini-terminal AGV robots. Findings A series of experiments are conducted to analyze the performance of the proposed mini-terminal AGV robot for laser-SLAM-based method testing. The experimental results show the validity and effectiveness of the AGV robot and AGV navigation system framework with better local map matching, loopback and absolute positional error. Originality/value The proposed mini-terminal AGV robot and AGV navigation system framework can provide a platform for innovative laser-SLAM-based method testing in ACTs applications. Therefore, this study can effectively meet the high requirements of ACT for maturity and stability of the laser navigation technical.