Mailmobile Automatic Mail Delivery AGV

Citizens Bank's Ms. Molly McMail ( 1985)

Molly Beep Beep

On June 11th, Citizens Bank donated a Bell and Howell MailMobile III, their mail-delivery robot, to the Rhode Island Computer Museum. At Citizens they called her Molly McMail, and she delivered mail in their operations center for over 30 years before she was ‘retired’ this year. She still runs, and she is very unique – she even has her own Facebook page (under MollyBeepBeep)! Check out the pictures of her retirement party at the Facebook site!

Guidance and navigation

The invisible fluorescent Guidepath is applied over existing surfaces. The Guidepath is stimulated by ultraviolet light and tracked by photoelectric sensors. The Mailmobile will not operate when it is off the Guidepath, except under manual operation, ensuring safety for both people and equipment.

1953 First AGV

Automatic Guided Vehicles have played a role in moving material and product for more than 50 years. The first AGV system was built and introduced in 1953. It was a modified towing tractor that was used to pull a trailer and follow an overhead wire in a grocery warehouse. By the late '50s and early '60s, towing AGVs were in operation in many types of factories and warehouses. (source: MHIA - AGV elessons http://www.mhia.org)