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VehicleGuidance.com Automated Guided Vehicle Systems People Movers and Bus Rapid Transit Systems Aerospace Technology Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems Advanced Vehicle Control Systems Concerns 
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Small, unmanned vehicles are used in places like hospitals and factories to transport supplies on a predetermined schedule or as needed. They are usually guided by lasers and follow set paths and prescribed routes between two points. More complicated systems can even negotiate obstacles like elevators and electronic doors. A Dutch company, Frog Navigation Systems, has developed a technology called Free Range on Grid (FROG) that uses small magnets embedded in the road surface instead of lasers to guide the vehicles. Each vehicle contains a magnet sensor and unboard computer with a map that compares the calculated position of the vehicle with its actual position and makes corrections each time it passes a magnet. This technology may be more promising for future Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems than laser technology. 
In Rotterdam's ECT container terminal, over 160 Automated Guided Vehicles with this technology transport containers between the quay-cranes and the stack. The future posibilities this technology offers is obvious for anyone that has seen this terminal in operation. It is actually already in use for People Movers and Bus Rapid Transit Systems.
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