Abstract
An automated guided vehicle (AGV) is a mobile robot commonly used to carry loads in material handling systems (MHS). Once a transfer is completed, an AGV stops at a home position, a point where it can park until it is assigned a new task. Determining the home positions is an important control problem with a direct influence on the overall performance of the MHS. The problem can be viewed as a location-allocation problem on a network. In this paper two fast and effective heuristics which dynamically determine the home positions are proposed. The methods were tested using two real-world instances. The obtained results are shown and discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Askin, R. G. and Standridge, C. R. (1993) Modeling and Analysis of Manufacturing Systems, Wiley, New York.
Ahuja, K., Magnanti, T. L. and Orlin, J. B. Network Flows, Prentice Hall, New York.
Christofides, N. and Beasely, J. E. (1982) A tree search algorithm for the p-median problem. European Journal of Operational Research, 10, 196–204.
Cornuejols, G., Fisher, M. L. and Nemhauser, G. L. (1977) Location of bank accounts to optimize float: An analytical study of exact and approximate algorithms. Management Science, 23, 789–810.
Egbelu, P. J. (1982) A design methodology for operational control elements for automated guided vehicle based material handling system. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Industrial Engineering and Operational Research, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.
Egbelu, P. J. and Tanchoco, J. M. A. (1984) Characterization of automatic guided vehicle dispatching rules. International Journal of Production Research, 22(3), 359–374.
Egbelu, P. J. (1993) Positioning of automated guided vehicles in a loop layout to improve response time. European Journal of Operational Research, 71(1).
Evers, J. and Koppers, M. (1996) Automated guided vehicle traffic control at a container terminal. Transportation Research A, 30(1).
Erlenkotter, D. (1978) A dual-based procedure for uncapacitated facility location. Operations Research, 26, 992–1009.
Gaskins, R. J. and Tanchoco, J. M. A. (1987) Flow path design for automated guided vehicle system. International Journal of Production Research, 25(5), 667–676.
Handler, G. Y. (1990) p-center problems. In Mirchandani, P., Francis, R. L. (eds), Discrete Location Theory, Wiley.
Kariv, O. and Hakimi, S. L. (1979) An algorithmic approach to network location problems. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 37, 539–560.
Koppers, S. A. J. (1993) Traffic Control and Route-Layout at an Automated Container Terminal, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, Report no. 93.3.LT. 4124.
Maranzana, F. E. (1964) On the location of supply points to minimize transport costs. Operational Research Quarterly, 15, 261–270.
Mirchandani, P., Oudjit, A. and Wong, R. (1985) Multidimensional extensions and a nested dual approach for the m-median problem. European Journal of Operational Research, 21, 121–137.
Mirchandani, P. (1990) The p-median problem and generalizations. In Mirchandani, P., Francis, R. L. (eds), Discrete Location Theory, Wiley.
ReVelle, C. and Swain, R. W. (1970) Central facilities location. Geographical Analysis, 2, 30–42.
Teitz, M. B. and Burt, P. (1967) Heuristic Methods for estimating the generalized vertex median of a weighted graph. Operations Research 16, 955–961.
Toregas, C., Swan, R., ReVelle, C. and Bergman, L. (1971) The location of emergency service facilities. Operations Research 19, 1366–1373.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bruno, G., Ghiani, G. & Improta, G. Dynamic positioning of idle automated guided vehicles. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing 11, 209–215 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008947018074
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008947018074