Autonomous Mobile Robot

A mobile robot that localizes and plans its own route with sensors, without following a fixed floor track.

An AMR uses sensors such as lidar, cameras, and an IMU, meaning an inertial measurement unit, together with SLAM, meaning simultaneous localization and mapping, to know where it is and plan its own path, routing around people or obstacles in real time instead of stopping and waiting the way a traditional AGV does. Deploying one usually requires no changes to the floor, so switching sites or routes just means remapping and resetting waypoints, which is why AMRs have become increasingly common in e-commerce warehouses, hospital delivery, and factory material flow. Their downside is a typically higher unit price than a magnetic-strip AGV. An AMR does not necessarily carry a robot arm; adding one on top turns it into a mobile manipulator, which is also a common hardware form for mobile manipulation in embodied AI.

ExampleIn an e-commerce warehouse, laser-guided transport robots carry shelves or totes to picking stations.

Also called

AMR

Related

Automated Guided Vehicle · Mobile Base (Chassis) · Mobile Manipulator · Navigation · Simultaneous Localization and Mapping · Fleet Management System (e.g. Open-RMF)

Sources

AGV vs AMR - AGV Network
AGV vs AMR: differences and how to choose | Navitec Systems