Fleet manager (fleet control)
The central software that assigns orders to a fleet of AGVs or mobile robots, plans their routes, manages traffic between them, and tracks their state.
The network analogy
A wireless LAN controller for vehicles: a central brain that issues instructions and tracks state, while each vehicle keeps working from what it was last told when the link drops.
Why it matters for wireless
The fleet manager reaches its vehicles over the wireless network, so its messaging rate, its timeouts, and what each vehicle does when the fleet manager goes silent all shape how a dropout plays out on the floor.
VDA 5050 defines a standardized and vendor-neutral communication interface between a fleet control system and mobile robots over MQTT and JSON. Each robot publishes its state when relevant events occur or at least every 30 seconds1, and a broker-held last will reports CONNECTION_BROKEN when a robot drops off unexpectedly.
The specification is candid about the medium: because transmission via wireless networks is not reliable, it treats the released part of a route as already committed. It also states that it does not define functional, operational, or system safety requirements.
About this page
Built from 2 sources: 1 regulator or government source and 1 protocol owner or alliance. Researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and approved by Ben Rutter on . How pages are made
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Cite this page
Plain
Ben Rutter. "Fleet manager (fleet control)." OT Wireless, published October 5, 2026. https://otwireless.com/glossary/fleet-manager/
APA 7
Rutter, B. (2026, October 5). Fleet manager (fleet control). OT Wireless. https://otwireless.com/glossary/fleet-manager/
BibTeX
@misc{rutter2026fleetmanager,
author = {Rutter, Ben},
title = {{Fleet manager (fleet control)}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://otwireless.com/glossary/fleet-manager/}},
organization = {OT Wireless},
}