Industrial AGV safety study finds 1.5-2m passing distance preferred by workers

As Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) become more prevalent in factories, their ability to navigate near human workers raises important safety concerns beyond just physical harm regulations. This paper from Howey, Schreiter, Rudenko, and Lilienthal tackles the understudied area of perceived safety with large-payload AGVs. Unlike prior studies that relied on student participants, this work recruited actual industrial workers and compared real-world encounters with VR simulations. The experiment varied both the passing distance (ranging from 1.0m to 2.5m) and the shape of the collision avoidance maneuver (e.g., curved vs. straight paths). Participants used a handheld pressure-sensitive trigger to indicate perceived threat in real time, and later filled out a post-experience questionnaire. They also got to tweak the AGV's trajectory parameters themselves to match their comfort level.

The results are clear: a passing distance of 1.5 to 2 meters is the sweet spot for worker comfort, consistent across both real and virtual conditions. Workers' self-defined trajectories also clustered in that range, reinforcing its importance. Notably, perceived threat levels were slightly higher in VR than in reality, but the relative preferences remained the same — a key finding that validates VR as a safe, low-risk environment for studying human-robot interaction at close quarters. This work offers concrete design guidelines for AGV manufacturers and factory safety managers, bridging the gap between physical safety standards and the less tangible but equally critical factor of worker trust and comfort.