Design and Development of a Material Handling System for an Autonomous Intelligent Vehicle for Flexible Manufacturing

Abstract Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) is a domain where progressive research has been undertaken. The future for survival, in an increasingly congested industrial environment can be achieved by making an innovative, technical, organisational and major financial effort to secure ultimate viability from low cost labour countries. A potential solution was the research and integration of a material handling system with an Autonomous Intelligent Vehicles (AIV) for the seamless transportation of product in a manufacturing environment. AIVs were indicated as a positive solution to the reduction of mundane and laborious manual handling operations present in manufacturing processes. Further research into advancements of electromechanical interface technologies for a material handling system combined with an AIV. The research focused on an industrial capable product with a collection of sensors for material handling. The research proposed to progress the material handling system with Industry 4.0 capabilities through machine to machine (M2M) communication. The on-board sensors of the material handling system together with the intelligence of the AIV delivered an automated and autonomous system capable of intralogistics movement of material in the modern world of Industry 4.0.This paper presents a detailed account of the phases of research in design, build, test and integration.