Intelligent traffic control for autonomous vehicle systems based on machine learning

Abstract This study aimed to resolve a real-world traffic problem in a large-scale plant. Autonomous vehicle systems (AVSs), which are designed to use multiple vehicles to transfer materials, are widely used to transfer wafers in semiconductor manufacturing. Traffic control is a significant challenge with AVSs because all vehicles must be monitored and controlled in real time, to cope with uncertainties such as congestion. However, existing traffic control systems, which are primarily designed and controlled by human experts, are insufficient to prevent heavy congestion that impedes production. In this study, we developed a traffic control system based on machine learning predictions, and a routing method that dynamically determines AVS routes with reduced congestion rates. We predicted congestion for critical bottleneck areas, and utilized the predictions for adaptive routing control of all vehicles to avoid congestion. We conducted an experimental evaluation to compare the predictive performance of four popular algorithms. We performed a simulation study based on data from semiconductor fabrication to demonstrate the utility and superiority of the proposed method. The experimental results showed that AVSs with the proposed approach outperformed the existing approach in terms of delivery time, transfer time, and queuing time. We found that adopting machine learning-based traffic control can enhance the performance of existing AVSs and reduce the burden on the human experts who monitor and control AVSs.