Polyurethane Coated Wheels for High-Speed AMRs

In the high-speed operation scenarios of the material handling industry, AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) serves as the core handling equipment, and its motion performance directly affects the operation efficiency of links such as warehouse sorting and workshop transfer. As the core executive component of AMR that directly contacts the ground, the polyurethane coated wheel has become the key core supporting the robot's high-speed and stable operation due to its unique material properties and structural design.

The ability of polyurethane coated wheels to adapt to the high-speed operation needs of material handling AMRs mainly relies on their polyurethane material formula design that accurately matches the scenarios. In material handling scenarios, AMRs often shuttle at high speed in warehouse aisles, workshop floors and other areas, and the instantaneous friction force, frictional heat generation and wear rate between the wheels and the ground increase geometrically. Ordinary rubber materials are prone to problems such as excessive wear and high-temperature softening. However, customized polyurethane materials can achieve precise regulation of material properties by adjusting the ratio of isocyanate to polyol. For high-speed material handling scenarios, researchers usually increase the cross-linking density of the material, controlling the Shore hardness of the coated layer in the optimal range of 85-95D. This not only ensures the structural stability of the wheels during high-speed rolling, avoiding increased running resistance and reduced handling efficiency caused by excessive deformation, but also absorbs vibrations from small protrusions on the ground through moderate elastic resilience, preventing displacement of the loaded materials. Meanwhile, by adding antioxidants and wear-resistant fillers, the wear resistance of polyurethane coated wheels is 3-5 times higher than that of ordinary rubber wheels. Under the working condition of 12 hours of high-speed operation per day in material handling scenarios, their service life can be extended to 1.5-2 years, greatly reducing the interference of equipment maintenance on handling operations.

With the development of the material handling industry towards high-speed, heavy-load and refined, the requirements for the operation performance of AMRs are constantly increasing, and the performance requirements for polyurethane coated wheels will also be further upgraded. In the future, through the integration of material modification, structural innovation and intelligent detection technology, polyurethane coated wheels will demonstrate stronger adaptability in higher-speed, heavier-load and more complex material handling environments, providing more solid support for the automated upgrading of the material handling industry.