Ambiguous definitions of industrial mobile robots: a survey of German-speaking experts

Industrial mobile robots are increasingly deployed in warehouses and production sites and interaction takes place with different stakeholders from different disciplines. In such sociotechnical settings, terminology shapes mental models and perceptions that influence trust, interaction, and safe collaboration. Key labels such as driverless transport vehicle (DTV), automated guided vehicle (AGV), autonomous mobile robot (AMR) and mobile robot (MR) are used inconsistently across standards, industry practice and academic literature. It remains unclear how experts actually interpret these terms in professional communication, since the terms are only in part defined by standards and perceived differently throughout the industry. We address this gap with an online survey of 53 mobile robotics experts. Spontaneous associations, the perceived distinctiveness between pairs of terms, consistency with general terminology statements and attributed technical characteristics are identified. The results are contrasted with normative references and interoperability initiatives. The findings indicate systematic, term-specific perceptions. Participants report divergent perceptions, conflicting definitions and a lack of uniform terminology. Experts rated AGV and DTV as largely indistinguishable (relative effect = -0.51/-1), but considered AGV and AMR clearly more separable (0.37/1), while MR functioned as a broad umbrella term that evoked capability-related associations yet remained ambiguous. Based on these ambiguities, we synthesize recommendations for how terminology should be communicated and qualified in industrial mobile robotics to reduce expectation gaps across stakeholder groups and facilitate a joint, uniform understanding.