Highly Self-Developed Core Components: AGV Steering Wheel Market Welcomes Another "Heavyweight Player"

For mobile robots, the steering wheel is responsible for the steering and guiding functions of AGVs. Its performance directly affects the overall performance and transportation efficiency of AGVs, making it one of the key factors for achieving AGV intelligence and automation. For steering wheels that integrate drive motors, steering motors, and reducers, the reducer is the core component for realizing the steering wheel's functions.

Founded in 2015, Hangzhou EED transmission Equipment Co., Ltd. is a comprehensive enterprise integrating R&D, production, and sales, specializing in providing power transmission solutions such as reducers, gear motors, and steering wheel power systems. In 2019, EED Transmission began to enter the AGV field for steering wheel R&D and established a dedicated business division focused on AGV/AMR steering wheels.

Starting from Reducers to Strengthen Core Components of Steering Wheels

"We previously mainly produced reducers, motors, and other drive products. In the process, we gradually considered developing derivatives based on motors and reducers, so we chose AGV/AMR steering wheels for research. Later, through cooperation with local universities and research institutes in Hangzhou, we introduced talents and gradually increased R&D investment in this segment," said Ye, General Manager of EED Transmission. After starting in the AGV/AMR field, EED Transmission analyzed market demands and targeted the Yangtze River Delta region with high industrial automation needs to actively expand the market.

In May last year, EED Transmission's new product—the steering wheel—made its debut. The steering wheel features labyrinth mechanical seals on both ends of the bearing cover, and the output uses double-sealed deep-groove ball bearings, offering strong radial load capacity and smoother operation. The high-speed end input shaft and brake shaft adopt an integrated low-carbon alloy steel forging design, with surface carburizing and quenching to achieve higher strength and safer braking.

Ye added, "Reducers have always been the flagship products of EED Transmission, and we have high requirements for reducer precision and overall control. Therefore, the greatest feature of EED Transmission's steering wheels lies in their reducers—all our steering wheels are equipped with helical gear planetary reducers."

Compared with straight tooth planetary reducers and angle planetary reducers, helical gear planetary reducers have smaller gear transmission errors due to their helical line contact surfaces, giving them the characteristics of high precision, low noise, and low vibration. However, their reduction ratio range is smaller than that of straight tooth reducers, typically 3-100, and they are relatively more expensive, making them more suitable for high-precision application scenarios.

In addition, EED transmission's reducers incorporate unique designs: using high-quality alloy steel treated with carbon-nitrogen co-permeation to achieve optimal wear resistance and impact toughness. The output planet carrier adopts an integrated (double-supported) structural design, with front and rear bearings widely spaced within the housing to form a stable integrated structure, ensuring high torsional rigidity and precision. The ring gear and output housing are integrally designed, made of high-quality steel and formed by hot forging to achieve high material density. These ingenious designs ensure the excellent quality of EED Transmission's reducers and lay a solid foundation for the R&D of its steering wheels.

Focusing on helical gear planetary reducers, EED Transmission's new steering wheel R&D mainly focuses on tonnage design and turning radius. Ye stated, "On the one hand, we are increasing the tonnage—originally only involving 2-ton steering wheels, now we have expanded to nearly 6-ton steering wheels, and we will design even larger tonnages in the future. On the other hand, through communication with customers, we learned that the operating space for AGV/AMR is very limited, so we strive to reduce the turning radius in design while increasing its load capacity." By upgrading the tonnage and turning radius of steering wheels, EED Transmission continuously improves the positioning accuracy and load-bearing capacity of steering wheels, helping mobile robots expand their application scenarios.

Achieving Highly Self-Developed Components: Customized Solutions as a Strength

Currently, demand for explosion-proof steering wheels is increasing in outdoor environments and special places such as chemical, flammable, and explosive areas, and EED Transmission has also made arrangements for this trend. "Recently, we actively participated in compiling the group standard Technical Requirements for Explosion-Proof Forklift-Type Mobile Robots organized by the Alliance Standardization Committee. The constructive opinions put forward by experts at the seminar have brought us great inspiration. At present, we have also formed our own solutions for chemical, flammable, and explosive fields, and we will continue to carry out corresponding R&D in motors and drives," said Ye.

Meanwhile, not only in the explosion-proof field but also with the deepening expansion of mobile robot application scenarios, the demand for drive products suitable for more scenarios is increasing, which makes Ye more convinced that steering wheel precision and customization will be important trends in the industry's future development. "In the future, the requirements for steering wheel positioning accuracy will become higher and higher, and with changing scenarios, customized solutions will better meet customers' actual needs," Ye said.

In providing customized solutions, EED transmission has rich experience and sufficient capabilities. "We have basically achieved self-research and self-production of components, which gives us an advantage in customized solutions."

According to Ye, during the R&D stage of steering wheels and reducers, EED has a team of engineers with overall AGV and robot design capabilities, specializing in the design of precision planetary gears, RV worm gears, steering gears, etc., to quickly respond to various customer needs, provide targeted solutions, and implement them into mass production.

In the quality control and product processing stages, EED Transmission also has dedicated teams and personnel in charge. "We have a 30-person quality team of old, middle-aged, and young members, implementing ISO/9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018 quality systems, conducting strict inspections and tests on all links from raw material procurement to final product delivery," Ye said. "In the processing stage, we have a digital production workshop and advanced machine tools such as CNC machining centers, gear grinding machines, planet carrier PIN hole machining centers, planetary gear milling machining centers, input flange positioning hole machining centers, and lathe finishing centers, realizing modern and intelligent production and processing."

"We have independent R&D departments, production departments, and business divisions, allowing us to quickly respond, carefully analyze, and continuously improve based on customer feedback," Ye added. Currently, for normal standard products, the internal delivery time is set at 7-10 days, and the development of non-standard products can usually be completed within about 20 days.

From precision reducers to more comprehensive steering wheels, from the original comfort zone to unknown new fields, and from single products to series of customized solutions, EED Transmission has never given up on pursuing quality, leading to breakthroughs in technology and performance. "In the first half of this year, our business in AGV/AMR steering wheels and precision planetary reducers has developed well, with a year-on-year growth of about 30%," Ye said. Among them, the export volume of EED Transmission's RV series reducers ranks among the top in the country, and product quality is widely praised by global customers.

Keeping Up with Industry Trends: Refusing to "Work in Isolation"

Through years of deep cultivation and persistent accumulation in both reducers and steering wheels, EED Transmission has gradually formed core insights into industry demands and precise grasp of industry trends.

Ye said, "The core requirements for reducers and steering wheels are actually about precision and product quality, which require quality stability to ensure the safe operation of robots. Secondly, current enterprises have very high requirements for cost control, which requires us component suppliers to have higher technical standards, stricter quality supervision, and cost control." EED Transmission believes that the current industry demands precisely represent opportunities for enterprise development. In the context of rapid technological iteration, only enterprises that continuously deepen market exploration, integrate with the market, and refuse to "work in isolation" can achieve "corner overtaking."

Looking at the industry where EED Transmission is located, with the improvement of domestic steering wheel manufacturing levels and the development of China's mobile robot market, the domestic steering wheel industry will continue to seize market share from foreign giants by developing steering wheels with compact structures, excellent performance, high cost-effectiveness, safety, and reliability, as well as shortage varieties needed by the market, gradually occupying the commanding heights of domestic and foreign steering wheel markets.

Ye also firmly believes that the mobile robot steering wheel market has broad development prospects in the future. He added, "In fact, our domestic components have many advantages overseas. The quality of domestic products has actually surpassed that of foreign ones, with lower costs and faster delivery speeds. Therefore, I believe that the incremental growth of domestic steering wheels and reducers in overseas markets will also increase year by year."