Trajectory Planning for AGVs in Automated Container Terminals Using Avoidance Constraints

Abstract Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are used to transport containers between the quayside and the stacking area in automated container terminals. The behavior of AGVs becomes complex when the trajectories of AGVs need to be scheduled with interacting machines, while satisfying collision avoidance constraints. This paper proposes a new two-level energy-aware approach for generating the trajectories of AGVs in automated container terminals. The higher-level controller decides an energy-efficient schedule based on the minimal-time calculation of all machines. The higher-level controller solves optimal control problems to determine collision-free trajectories of individual AGVs. This obtained control problem of an AGV is then formulated as a mixed integer linear programming problem. Simulation results illustrate the potential of the proposed approach in a case study.