<COMMENT>The ABI labs</COMMENT>
<P><B><JC>Battery Charging
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<P>Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) utilize a number of battery charging options. Each option is dependant on the user's preference. The most commonly used battery charging technologies are Battery Swap, Automatic/Opportunity Charging, and Automatic Battery Swap.
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<P><B>Battery Swap
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<P>"Battery swap technology" requires an operator to manually remove the discharged battery from the AGV and place a fully charged battery in its place after approximately 8 - 12 hours (about one shift) of the AGV's operation. 5 - 10 minutes is required to perform this with each AGV in the fleet.
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<P><B>Automatic / Opportunity Charging
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<P>"Automatic and opportunity battery charging" allows for continuous operation. On average an AGV charges for 12 minutes every hour for automatic charging and no manual intervention is required. If opportunity is being utilized the AGV will receive a charge whenever the opportunity arises. When a battery pack gets to a predetermined level the AGV will finish the current job that it has been assigned before it goes to the charging station.
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<P><B>Automatic Battery Swap
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<P>"Automatic battery swap" is an alternative to manual battery swap. It requires an additional piece of automation machinery, an automatic battery changer, to the overall AGV system. AGVs will pull up to the battery swap station and have their batteries automatically replaced with fully charged batteries. The automatic battery changer then places the removed batteries into a charging slot for automatic recharging. The automatic battery changer keeps track of the batteries in the system and pulls them only when they are fully charged.