Autonomous navigation and fleet management software provider BlueBotics – whose ANT navigation technology drives over 6,000 AGVs and AMRs around the world – has launched ANT locator, a new and “highly flexible” vehicle tracking and mixed fleet management solution that will be commercially available from June 2025.
Dr Nicola Tomatis, CEO of BlueBotics, says: “Based on our proven vehicle positioning technology, ANT locator allows companies to understand exactly where their forklifts are, and therefore where their pallets are too, whether inside or outdoors.
“ANT locator also addresses an evolving challenge for internal logistics teams: how to ensure effective interactions between manual forklifts and driverless AGVs and AMRs, by enabling traffic light systems for mixed vehicle types, smart interactions in pre-defined zones, and the integrated monitoring of all vehicles.”
ANT locator is natively integrated with BlueBotics’ popular ANT server AGV/AMR fleet manager. It can also be integrated with a customer’s existing WMS, MES, ERP, or fleet management system.
Further add-ons are also available, for example for outdoor use, and to manage the tracking of other mobile assets – such as pallet jacks, or staff – within shared spaces.
Designed to meet the needs of AGV/AMR and manual forklift producers, third-party software providers, and end users alike, ANT locator’s functionality spans three key use cases:
1. Optimization of transport flows on mixed vehicle sites
While automated vehicles like AGVs are a proven productivity booster, operating these in the same spaces as manual trucks is a challenge, especially on complex, confined sites. How can transport flows be optimized? Who has right of way? How can efficiency-killing deadlocks and accidents be avoided?
With ANT locator, the live coordinates of manual trucks are integrated directly into BlueBotics’ ANT server AGV fleet manager. This precise positioning data enables the software to automatically manage interactions between automated vehicles, manual trucks, and even human staff – for example, via the use of traffic light systems – helping companies to use their space as intelligently and safely as possible.
2. Precise tracing of manually moved goods
For material handling to run efficiently, knowing the precise location of every pallet is key. But while the drop-off points of automated vehicles are pre-programmed, knowing the precise location of every manual truck’s drop-off is far from guaranteed.
With ANT locator integrated into every manual truck, the precise positions of these vehicles can be communicated continuously to a company’s existing WMS/logistics software, allowing material handling teams to trace the exact location of every payload – at pick-up, at drop-off, and everywhere in between.
3. Improvement of manual truck operations through data analytics
One of the biggest barriers to optimizing forklift use is not knowing how they are currently being used. Which flows are most common? Are drivers using the most efficient routes?
The precise positioning data and analytics that ANT locator supplies allow companies to improve their manual truck flows, by understanding and optimizing their usage based on real-world insights. No asking, no watching, no guessing – just track, analyze, adjust, and advise.
