Automatic Following Vehicle for Warehouse Transport

The described delivery is a complete industrial vehicle with a guarded load platform, drive, electronics and battery compartment, requiring charging, setup and operating checks before use.

Vehicle-mounted UWB anchors track a carried tag or badge for relative range and bearing.

The described chassis uses a supported four-wheel drive/steering arrangement and a stated payload above 200kg; verify actual drive geometry and approved load.

The controller combines UWB, IMU and wheel-speed data as configured, with motor-drive overcurrent and thermal protection.

The described safety configuration includes ultrasonic/LiDAR sensing and local and remote emergency-stop controls.

A handheld remote selects supported manual or following modes; the described following range is 1–15m, with parking-wheel locking as configured.

A replaceable lithium battery is selected for the required working shift.

Operating Workflow:The operator wears the tag, and the vehicle follows at the selected distance, typically 2–3m in this example. It parks during picking, resumes following between locations and responds to people, racks or vehicles through its configured sensors. Local and remote emergency stops are available.

Difference from a Fixed-Route AGVThe following application does not require a predefined ground route or dispatch map. The operator chooses the path. Initial setup may be completed within hours for a suitable platform and environment.

The case description reports outcomes in deployment, transport and flexibility:

DeploymentCompared with the referenced infrastructure-based solution, reported setup decreased from weeks to the same day, with deployment cost approximately 80% lower.

Transport and WorkloadReported pushing/handling effort decreased by approximately 90%, and picking/delivery throughput improved by approximately 30–40%.

FlexibilityThe case describes changing temporary storage, cross-zone transport and urgent supply routes without rebuilding the route infrastructure, with substantially faster response than its fixed-route comparison.

SafetyThe case reports obstacle response below 0.3 seconds and no collisions during its evaluation, with parking-wheel locking on the supported vehicle.