Automated Guided Vehicle Controlled by Li-Fi: A Study Case

Some Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) currently use bidirectional infrared (IR) laser communication to control their tasks in industrial facilities. Laser technology’s disadvantage is the need for tight alignment between the transmitter’s narrow beam and the receiver’s small surface, imposing mobility constraints. The present work tackles this challenge by proposing a replacement for laser communication, using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and Light Fidelity (Li-Fi). It uses the visible and near-infrared spectral bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to send data. A small-scale solution to an existing industrial scenario where laser communication is used to send data to moving AGVs is presented. A white LED is used as an emitter to simultaneously enlighten and send data to the AGV, while a photodiode is used as a receiver to decode the variations of light into electric control signals. So that the vehicle can send information back, infrared LED communication is used. Since the beam of an LED is wider than a laser beam, the AGV under this beam has more freedom of movement. This gives more flexibility and robustness to the industrial facility. The small-scale prototype presented in this work reports freedom of movement gain factor of 157 compared to the previous solution.