Review of Obstacle Detection by Ultrasonic and Laser Sensor for Automated Guided Vehicles

In this twenty-first century, industries are using automated guided vehicles for material handling. The wide usage is because AGVs can easily customize per application requirements. One of the areas of concern is obstacle detection, as AGVs operated in highly congested industrial environments. While working with automated guided vehicles on the production floor, these vehicles come across human operators and manufacturing equipment. In such events, the collision of automated guided vehicles with human operators or manufacturing equipment can occur. These accidents on the production floor can cause loss of human life or damage manufacturing equipment. To avoid such circumstances, AGVs must be able to detect obstacles and avoid them. This paper reviewed obstacle detection techniques using ultrasonic and laser sensors. This study shall help the researchers to understand the advantages, limitations, applications and future scopes of ultrasonic and laser sensors for obstacle detection.