Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV)

An Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) is a driverless horizontal-transport platform that carries one or two containers between the quay crane and the yard at an automated container terminal, following a pre-mapped path fixed by transponders set in the apron, by differential GNSS, or by laser/grid guidance. AGVs run on diesel-electric, battery (lift-AGV with self-lifting frames), or charging-lane power, coordinated by the terminal operating system for routing and collision avoidance. ECT Delta in Rotterdam (1993) introduced AGV operation; the lift-AGV later let vehicles decouple from cranes by buffering boxes on stands.