A dispatching-rule-based algorithm for automated guided vehicle systems design

This research finds the minimum number of vehicles needed in an automated guided vehicle system (AGVS), considering the impact of vehicle dispatching rules, such that the chance of a vehicle-initiated situation occurring is less than a given very small threshold specified by the system designer. Under these conditions, the probability of load requests waiting will be very small and the impact of the vehicle-initiated dispatching rule on the system performance will be negligible. As a result, this research considers only the workcentre-initiated dispatching rule. A model using queuing theory and Markovian processes to represent the relationships among empty-vehicle traveltime, number of vehicles, and the various types of workcentre-initiated dispatching rules is used to formulate a dispatching-rule-based algorithm (DRBA) minimum number of vehicles. Also, given the number of vehicles required in the system, this research investigates the to determine the impact of the nearest-vehicle and farthest-vehicle di...