How to solve AGV/AMR "battery anxiety"

Make AGV/AMR faster charging, longer battery life and safer.

Just as some people are anxious about battery life, the charging problem of AGV/AMR has also been a concern.

Nowadays, AGV/AMR has been widely used in factories with large-scale customized production. The increase in the number of applications and the broadening of application scenarios have put forward the requirements of " faster charging, stronger battery life, and greater safety " for charging. The AGV charger market is facing more intense competition.

Shenzhen Andep Co., Ltd. has been involved in the research and development of chargers since 2015. It insists on focusing on mainstream products and continuously expanding its product spectrum. It customizes and develops cost-effective products that meet the needs of relevant special working conditions for customers in niche areas. Relying on mature technical products and complete services, Andep has already occupied a place in the charging field.

Expand production lines and improve delivery capabilities

According to data from the CMR Industry Alliance and statistics from the New Strategic Mobile Industry Research Institute, in 2022, the sales volume of applied mobile robots (AGV/AMR) in China reached 93,000 units (including sales to overseas markets), an increase of 29.17% from 2021, and the market size reached 18.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.82%.

The scale of the mobile robot market continues to expand year after year, driving the revenue growth of supply chain companies. In the first half of 2023, Andep achieved a year-on-year growth of about 25%, and the order volume increased further. Against this background, Andep continued to invest steadily to ensure delivery and expand production capacity.

" Our goal this year is to achieve an overall growth of 40% , but after statistics, we found that the current production capacity cannot match it, so the company is stepping up its preparations for production capacity. " said Zou Yunfeng, general manager of Andep's operations .

"We have increased the module production line and charger production line from the original 1,000 square meters to the current 2,100 square meters. At the same time, we have also automated the module production line and charger assembly line, and introduced automatic aging, AOI, and ESOP systems to increase production capacity while improving quality control capabilities. In addition, we have also added an SMT production line."

After the expansion of the production line, Andep's delivery capacity has been greatly improved. " After the expansion, our 3kw module production can reach 500 units a day, and the daily output of 20kw modules can reach 150 units. The monthly output of chargers has increased from more than 3,000 units to more than 5,000 units. " Zou Yunfeng said.

Strong delivery capability is an important support for Andep to gain a foothold in the face of fierce market competition, and it is also a necessary condition for Andep to achieve new breakthroughs.

Create modular products and promote standardization

In recent years, the non-standard customization attributes of the AGV industry have gradually increased, and accordingly, when it comes to AGV charging, there are a variety of customized charging solution requirements.

"I think the challenges brought by this customized development trend are not only for Andep, but also for the entire AGV industry." Zou Yunfeng further elaborated, "At present, the industry's exploration of scenarios has not yet reached a mature stage. It is difficult for products to be fully standardized in the short term. It can only be gradually promoted through local standardization."

In this context, alleviating AGV charging anxiety requires not only fast product delivery, but also high-performance and safer charging products that can quickly respond to and meet customers' various needs. For Andep, which has always focused on industrial battery intelligent charging solutions, this is an opportunity to highlight its own advantages in the face of customized development trends.

“ Customized development and modular design are what we have been doing. ”

The main components of the charging device adopt a modular design, which can meet the needs of capacity expansion in a simple way, reduce costs, and greatly shorten the time for maintenance and servicing, which is conducive to later maintenance.

"What kind of environment will the AGV face during operation, what difficulties will it encounter, and how to solve them are all things that need to be considered during the development process of AGV products." Zou Yunfeng said that the difficulty in modular design is actually the understanding of the AGV application scenarios.

"We have conducted a lot of market research in the early stage, invested a lot of manpower and resources in module development, and adopted a modular design for the charger. On the basis of modularity, the product can quickly respond to market demand after some adjustments in appearance and docking of protocols. " Zou Yunfeng said.

Whether it is to improve efficiency or adjust the compatibility with AGV, Andep has innovatively proposed more solutions to adapt to the vigorous development of AGV. It is reported that Andep has now launched a full range of modules of 3kw, 6kw, 10kw, 11kw and 20kw , which can fully cover the market demand.

In addition to creating modular products, Andep also actively participates in the construction of AGV equipment charging standardization, investing special funds to develop standardized lithium battery charging systems to help the rapid development of the AGV industry. " It is impossible for Andep to promote the standardization of the industry alone, so I hope everyone can discuss with us and make progress together. " Zou Yunfeng called.

Follow up new technologies and delve into them

In terms of charging technology, the current AGV charging methods are mainly divided into four types: battery replacement charging, manual charging, automatic charging and wireless charging.

At present, the mobile robot industry generally adopts automatic charging, and the charging device is mainly conductive charging device (contact charging), which accounts for more than 90% of the market. According to the data of CMR Industry Alliance and the statistics of New Strategic Mobile Robot Industry Research Institute, the AGV/AMR industry will ship about 17,500 sets of conductive charging devices in 2022, with a market size of about 125 million yuan.

Contact charging means that all charging circuits need to use cables and charging contacts to connect the vehicle to the system so that it can be charged directly. As the preferred method of offline charging, contact charging can provide a larger charge to achieve fast charging, reduce standby charging time, and thus improve the operating efficiency of AGV.

With the improvement of AGV intelligence and the deepening of application scenarios, the defects of contact charging have gradually emerged. Frequent random charging makes the charging contacts easy to wear and need to be replaced regularly, and sparks may be generated during the charging process, posing a safety hazard. In addition, because the charging contacts are exposed components, they are not very suitable for working in low-temperature condensation, humidity, flammable and explosive environments.

Market demand, as the driving force, has pushed AGV/AMR charging technology into a new round of innovation, and wireless charging has gradually entered the public eye.

" For AGVs that are constantly pursuing efficiency improvements, wireless charging is a very good technological breakthrough that can bring great convenience to AGV charging. " Zou Yunfeng is very optimistic about this emerging technology.

Wireless charging is a contactless charging device that does not require cables to connect the vehicle to the power supply system. It discards charging contacts, and both the charger and the power-consuming device can have no exposed conductive contacts. Wireless charging technology isolates the charging end from the AGV energy storage system, fundamentally eliminating the disadvantages of the plug-in charging method, making it safer and more applicable. However, due to technical and cost limitations, wireless charging is not widely used.

Zou Yunfeng also mentioned the reasons why the development of the wireless charging market is hampered: " At present, the commercialization of wireless charging technology is not up to standard, the power is insufficient and the cost is high. The relevant standards and after-sales service are not yet perfect. In addition, wireless chargers above 10KW are large in size and are not suitable for AGV use. "

Power, cost, standards, and after-sales service are all factors that hinder the application of wireless charging technology.

"At present, the industry is constantly making breakthroughs in wireless charging technology. Some companies have launched wireless charging products with a power of more than 10KW, and the conversion efficiency can basically reach more than 90%. The breakthrough of these bottlenecks will bring broader market prospects for the application of wireless charging technology." Zou Yunfeng said. It is understood that in order to meet market demand, Andepu is also developing wireless charging technology and trying to develop a series of wireless charging products to help promote the development of AGV/AMR charging technology.

Zou Yunfeng believes that wireless charging technology, like all emerging new technologies, will inevitably face a process of gradual improvement and maturity, and its safety and reliability levels will require long-term iteration and upgrading.

This is also Andep's thinking on the product upgrade path. Looking to the future, Andep has planned a clear path for itself - putting customer needs first and promoting market growth by improving product quality.