Optimal scheduling and routing of free-range AGVs at large scale automated container terminals
Abstract
This work tackles the problem of controlling operations at an automated container terminal. In the context of large supply chains, there is a growing trend for increasing productivity and economic efficiency. New optimization models and algo rithms are provided for scheduling and routing equipment that is moving containers in a quay area, loading/unloading ships, transporting them via Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to Automated Stacking Cranes (ASCs), organizing them in stacks. In contrast with the majority of the approaches in the related literature, this work tackles two dynamics of the system, a dis crete dynamic, characteristic of the maximization of opera tions efficiency, by assigning the best AGV and operation time to a set of containers, and a continuous dynamic of the AGV that moves in a geographically limited area. As an assump tion, AGVs can follow free range trajectories that minimize the error of the target time and increase the responsiveness of the system. A novel solution framework is proposed in order to tackle the two system dynamics. Various metaheuristic algo rithms are tested to solve the problem in a near-optimal way. Computational experiments are presented in order to show the feasibility of the proposed framework on a practical case study, and to assess the performance of advanced scheduling and routing algorithms on numerous system settings. Show more
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https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000183049Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Periodica Polytechnica Transportation EngineeringVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
Periodica Polytechnica Budapest University of Technology and EconomicsSubject
Container terminal operations; Scheduling; Free-ranging routing; Trajectory planning; MetaheuristicsOrganisational unit
09611 - Corman, Francesco / Corman, Francesco
02226 - NSL - Netzwerk Stadt und Landschaft / NSL - Network City and Landscape
02655 - Netzwerk Stadt und Landschaft D-ARCH
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