AMR glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms you’ll meet when automating material movement with autonomous mobile robots.
- AGV (automated guided vehicle)
- A driverless vehicle that follows fixed guidance such as magnetic tape, wires or floor markers. AGVs repeat set routes reliably but need infrastructure changes whenever the route changes. AGV vs AMR
- AMR (autonomous mobile robot)
- A mobile robot that builds a map of its environment and plans its own routes, avoiding or waiting for obstacles. Unlike an AGV, an AMR needs no tape or markers, so routes change in software. GOAT AMR range
- Autonomous charging
- The robot docks itself to a charger when its battery is low or between tasks, so it can run across shifts without manual intervention.
- Depth camera
- A camera that measures distance for each pixel, helping the robot detect obstacles outside the LiDAR’s scanning plane, such as forks or table edges.
- Fleet management system
- Software that assigns tasks to robots, manages traffic, charging and maps, and integrates with factory systems. GT Studio
- IMU (inertial measurement unit)
- A sensor combining accelerometers and gyroscopes that measures the robot’s motion and rotation, used with wheel encoders to estimate movement between scans.
- Intralogistics
- The movement and handling of materials inside a facility — between receiving, storage, production and dispatch.
- ISO 3691-4
- The international safety standard for driverless industrial trucks and their systems, including AMRs and AGVs. It covers safety functions, operating zones and verification.
- Latent lifting
- A robot design that drives under a rack, cart or load carrier, lifts it with a top plate and moves it. GOAT’s GT-L Series uses latent lifting. GT-L Series
- LiDAR
- A laser sensor that measures distances to surrounding surfaces. 2D LiDAR scans one plane; 3D LiDAR scans many planes and sees overhanging or low obstacles.
- LiFePO4 battery
- Lithium iron phosphate — a lithium-ion battery chemistry valued in industrial robots for thermal stability and long cycle life.
- Line-side delivery
- Supplying parts and materials to workstations on a production line, often in sequence and just in time. Line-side delivery
- Localisation
- Estimating the robot’s position and orientation (its pose) on the map in real time, typically by matching LiDAR scans and fusing odometry and IMU data.
- MES, WMS and ERP
- Manufacturing execution, warehouse management and enterprise resource planning systems. AMR fleets integrate with them so robot tasks follow real production and inventory signals.
- OEE (overall equipment effectiveness)
- A manufacturing metric combining availability, performance and quality. Material delays reduce availability and therefore OEE.
- Payload
- The maximum load a robot is rated to carry, excluding its own weight and top module.
- Positioning accuracy
- How closely the robot stops at its target position. Tighter accuracy matters for conveyor transfers and docking.
- RaaS (robots as a service)
- A commercial model where robots are paid for by subscription instead of purchased outright.
- Sensor fusion
- Combining data from LiDAR, cameras, IMU and encoders into one estimate that is more reliable than any single sensor.
- SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping)
- The technique a robot uses to build a map of an unknown space while estimating its own position within it. It is what allows AMRs to work without floor infrastructure. Why localisation fails in dynamic environments
- Task orchestration
- Automatically assigning, prioritising and balancing tasks across a fleet to maximise utilisation and throughput.
- Top module
- The attachment mounted on a robot’s deck — conveyor, lift, shelf, tow hitch or cobot — that adapts one base robot to different tasks.
- Tugger (tow robot)
- A robot that pulls one or more carts or trailers, often in a train, rather than carrying the load on top. GT-XT tow robot
- VDA 5050
- An open interface standard, created by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and VDMA, for communication between mobile robots and a master control system, enabling mixed-vendor fleets. VDA 5050 explained
- WIP (work in progress)
- Partly finished goods moving between production steps. WIP movement
See a GOAT AMR working on your floor
We bring a robot and an engineer to your site. Tell us what you move, how far and how often, and we’ll recommend the right robot and fleet size.