- Title
- An autonomous vehicle interference-free scheduling approach on bidirectional paths in a robotic mobile fulfillment system
- Creator
- Sun, Yangjun; Zhao, Ning; Lodewijks, Gabriel
- Relation
- Expert Systems with Applications Vol. 178, no. 114932
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2021.114932
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- A robotic mobile fulfillment system (RMFS) is a "parts-to-picker" system employing a fleet of autonomous vehicles (AV), which transport pods between a storage area and picking stations. In this paper, an AV interference-free scheduling on bidirectional paths (IFSB) approach is studied and shows better working efficiency than unidirectional paths. In order to model AV scheduling on bidirectional path with interference-free constraints, a no-wait flexible process job shop scheduling problem (NWFPJSP) is employed to evaluate total completion time. A mathematical model aiming to minimize the total completion time is presented with as constraint interference-free operation. An A* algorithm is modified for path planning and a simulated annealing algorithm (SA) is employed for scheduling AVs and their paths. Based on a case study with a small RMFS, the IFSB approach results in a 40% increase of the storage capacity and a 22% decrease of the total completion time when compared to a unidirectional approach. Meanwhile, the number of AVs stop-starts are decreased by 40% and the paths length for all AV are decreased by 36%. This indicates the great potential of bidirectional paths in future logistic applications, which may increase the storage capacity, working efficiency, technical health of the AVs, and environmental sustainability.
- Subject
- robotic mobile fulfillment system; autonomous vehicle; path-set planning; interference-free scheduling on bidirectional paths; no-wait job-shop scheduling; modified A* algorithm
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1431500
- Identifier
- uon:38964
- Identifier
- ISSN:0957-4174
- Language
- eng
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