AMR vs AGV for material movement
Map-based autonomous navigation versus fixed-path guided vehicles, and what each costs you in facility change.
An AGV follows a fixed path laid into the floor as tape, wire or magnets. An AMR navigates from an onboard map and chooses its own route, so it handles a changed layout or a blocked aisle without re-engineering the facility. The distinction is who decides the route.
AGV
Deterministic and simple where the route genuinely never changes.
Requires physical infrastructure in the floor, and changing the route means changing the floor.
Stops when the path is blocked.
AMR
Maps the space and re-routes around obstacles.
No floor infrastructure, so layout changes are a software matter.
Higher unit cost, lower cost of change.
Which fits an electronics plant
Most electronics plants change layout more often than they expect to, which is the argument for AMRs.
Where a route is genuinely permanent and traffic is heavy, an AGV can still be the right answer.
Commonly asked
Do we need to modify our facility for an AMR?
Rarely. Mapping replaces the tape, magnets or wire an AGV would require, which is what makes an AMR practical in a plant whose layout still changes.
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