Wire guidance is an AGV-guidance technology in which an electric wire is embedded in the warehouse floor; the vehicle detects the magnetic field emitted by this wire and follows its path to within a centimeter. It is one of the oldest automated-navigation methods, still used on very high-cadence flows.
Wire guidance: how it works, benefits and limits
Installation involves cutting a shallow groove along the planned route, embedding a cable connected to a frequency generator, then sealing it back over. An antenna placed under the vehicle picks up the wire's magnetic field and continuously corrects the trajectory to stay centered on it. The principle is close to the wire guidance long used in the automotive industry for floor conveyors.
Its main strength is robustness: physical guidance is unaffected by lighting conditions or temporary floor clutter, and tracking precision is excellent. In exchange, installation requires civil-engineering work, any change of route requires new intervention, and a damaged wire (from an impact or later construction work) can immobilize all or part of the fleet. These constraints explain why the market is now turning toward guidance methods with no floor infrastructure, such as optical/geo-guidance or SLAM navigation for AMRs.
Wire guidance remains relevant for fixed, very high-volume routes, in buildings designed for automation from the outset. For a more variable flow or an existing building, a laser-guided AGV (LGV) or an infrastructure-free AMR are generally better suited — see the corresponding entries.
In practice, wire guidance has mainly been deployed at long-established industrial sites, often alongside new construction or a major building renovation. Existing warehouses looking to automate without construction work are now turning more readily toward free-navigation technologies, which install with no floor work and reconfigure with a simple software update.
FAQ
Is wire guidance still used?
Yes, but its use is declining in favor of infrastructure-free technologies. Wire guidance remains relevant for highly repetitive, high-throughput flows, where centimeter-level precision and the robustness of physical guidance matter more than layout flexibility, particularly at certain long-established industrial sites.
What are the drawbacks of wire guidance?
Installation requires civil-engineering work (cutting a groove in the floor, cabling), and any change of route requires new work. A damaged wire can immobilize the vehicle. These constraints explain the rise of AMRs, which navigate with no floor infrastructure at all.
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