Analytical framework for designing the divided automated guided Vehicles system

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present an analytical design framework for an AGV system configuration, called divided AGV system. In the divided AGV system, the pickup/deposit stations are divided into several transportation cells, and each cell has a simple guidepath traversed by a dedicated vehicle. Several transit stations may be set to construct a transit system for handling the intercell transport requirements. Moreover, the guidepaths for all cells are allowed to intersect at the crossroads. A systematic procedure is proposed to consider two important factors, distance and transport requirements (flow) between pickup/deposit stations simultaneously during the dividing procedure. In addition, a mathematical programming model for locating transit stations is integrated in the analytical framework. The divided configuration would not be seriously affected by plant layout, and the bi-directional vehicles would be implemented more effectively. In brief, the divided configuration could keep the simplicity of a control system and improve system feasibility and competition in a practical manufacturing environment.