Time-optimised pallet handling

Time savings achieved by autonomous fine positioning prior to load handling: Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) from the successful Austrian manufacturer Melkus Mechatronic feature a ‘parking aid’: due to a combination of precise sensor technology and an intelligent drive concept, the vehicles can pick up pallets without contact and without the need for manoeuvring. The fully autonomous, rapid fine positioning covering the ‘last inch’ saves valuable process time in internal transport operations.

Goeming/Salzburg, 31.08.2026 – When picking up pallets, it is important to position the forks centrally and drive them straight into the pallet channels. Driving in at an angle could result in the forks not fully engaging beneath the pallet, leading to an unstable load. Above all, it could dislodge empty pallets, making them inaccessible.

Whilst human forklift operators can assess and take into account the situation as they approach, an automated guided vehicle (AGV) must reposition itself upon arrival if it does not come to a halt precisely aligned in front of the pallet. In many cases, this requires repeated reversing. Such manoeuvres over the final centimetres – the ‘last inch’ – are among the most time-consuming steps in the automated internal transport process.

Contactless pallet handling

Not least because, for cost reasons alone, it is not possible to provide handover stations at every location, pallets are not always positioned precisely; their exact location cannot be predicted and cannot be taken into account in the AGVs’ navigation software.

Melkus Mechatronic’s popular G130 3.0 and HLG 130 pallet AGVs for in-house transport use high-quality laser scanners for navigation and personnel safety. These are also used to determine the exact position of the pallets to be picked up, ensuring that the forks enter the pallet tunnels without making contact.

Repositioning in seconds

The turntable drive, a key component of Melkus Mechatronic’s pallet AGVs, enables omnidirectional vehicle movement. Based on position data from the sensors, the vehicles’ full manoeuvrability in all directions – even when carrying a load – facilitates precise fine positioning in a matter of seconds. This is carried out autonomously by the on-board software. It does not require human intervention or prior configuration in the programming of a fleet management or navigation system.

The fully autonomous repositioning of the vehicle in front of the pallet to be picked up not only ensures safe load pick-up and handover. Omnidirectional correction driving eliminates manoeuvring movements, resulting in significantly reduced overall transport times. In the case of pallet AGVs from Melkus Mechatronic, this is further enhanced by the ability to travel at full speed in any orientation, regardless of whether they are empty or loaded. Traveling along warehouse aisles across the direction of travel at speed saves the time required for turning manoeuvres there.

“Every second counts in internal transport,” states Dominik Schnitzinger, Head of Software Development & Customer Support at Melkus Mechatronic. “That’s why we’ve fine-tuned the sensor technology and drive system so that our vehicles reach their destination not only safely, but also quickly. With complete autonomy.”

In Melkus Mechatronic pallet AGVs, the interaction between the laser scanners –housed in a protected enclosure – and the omnidirectional drive system ensures autonomous, precise and time-saving load handling.

Photo: P. Kemptner

“Every second counts in internal transport. That’s why we’ve fine-tuned the sensor technology and drive system so that our vehicles reach their destination not only safely, but also quickly. With complete autonomy.”

Dominik Schnitzinger, Head of Software Development & Customer Support, Melkus Mechatronic.