scholarly journals Path Planning of AS/RS Based on Cost Matrix and Improved Greedy Algorithm

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1483
Author(s):  
Dongdong Li ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Sai Geng ◽  
Benchi Jiang

Logistics plays an important role in the field of global economy, and the storage and retrieval of tasks in a warehouse which has symmetry is the most important part of logistics. Generally, the shelves of a warehouse have a certain degree of symmetry and similarity in their structure. The storage and retrieval efficiency directly affects the efficiency of logistics. The efficiency of the traditional storage and retrieval mode has become increasingly inconsistent with the needs of the industry. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a greedy algorithm based on cost matrix to solve the path planning problem of the automatic storage and retrieval system (AS/RS). Firstly, aiming at the path planning mathematical model of AS/RS, this paper proposes the concept of cost matrix, which transforms the traditional storage and retrieval problem into the element combination problem of cost matrix. Then, a more efficient backtracking algorithm is proposed based on the exhaustive method. After analyzing the performance of the backtracking algorithm, combined with some rules, a greedy algorithm which can further improve efficiency is proposed; the convergence of the improved greedy algorithm is also proven. Finally, through simulation, the time consumption of the greedy algorithm is only 0.59% of the exhaustive method, and compared with the traditional genetic algorithm, the time consumption of the greedy algorithm is about 50% of the genetic algorithm, and it can still maintain its advantage in time consumption, which proves that the greedy algorithm based on cost matrix has a certain feasibility and practicability in solving the path planning of the automatic storage and retrieval system.

Robotica ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas C. Nearchou

A genetic algorithm for the path planning problem of a mobile robot which is moving and picking up loads on its way is presented. Assuming a findpath problem in a graph, the proposed algorithm determines a near-optimal path solution using a bit-string encoding of selected graph vertices. Several simulation results of specific task-oriented variants of the basic path planning problem using the proposed genetic algorithm are provided. The results obtained are compared with ones yielded by hill-climbing and simulated annealing techniques, showing a higher or at least equally well performance for the genetic algorithm.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Eduardo Guzmán Ortiz ◽  
Beatriz Andres ◽  
Francisco Fraile ◽  
Raul Poler ◽  
Ángel Ortiz Bas

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of a Fleet Management System (FMS) that plans and controls the execution of logistics tasks by a set of mobile robots in a real-world hospital environment. The FMS is developed upon an architecture that hosts a routing engine, a task scheduler, an Endorse Broker, a controller and a backend Application Programming Interface (API). The routing engine handles the geo-referenced data and the calculation of routes; the task scheduler implements algorithms to solve the task allocation problem and the trolley loading problem using Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) depending on the problem size. The Endorse Broker provides a messaging system to exchange information with the robotic fleet, while the controller implements the control rules to ensure the execution of the work plan. Finally, the Backend API exposes some FMS to external systems.Design/methodology/approach: The first part of the paper, focuses on the dynamic path planning problem of a set of mobile robots in indoor spaces such as hospitals, laboratories and shopping centres. A review of algorithms developed in the literature, to address dynamic path planning, is carried out; and an analysis of the applications of such algorithms in mobile robots that operate in real in-door spaces is performed. The second part of the paper focuses on the description of the FMS, which consists of five integrated tools to support the multi-robot dynamic path planning and the fleet management.Findings: The literature review, carried out in the context of path planning problem of multiple mobile robots in in-door spaces, has posed great challenges due to the environment characteristics in which robots move. The developed FMS for mobile robots in healthcare environments has resulted on a tool that enables to: (i) interpret of geo-referenced data; (ii) calculate and recalculate dynamic path plans and task execution plans, through the implementation of advanced algorithms that take into account dynamic events; (iii) track the tasks execution; (iv) fleet traffic control; and (v)  to communicate with one another external systems.Practical implications: The proposed FMS has been developed under the scope of ENDORSE project that seeks to develop safe, efficient, and integrated indoor robotic fleets for logistic applications in healthcare and commercial spaces. Moreover, a computational analysis is performed using a virtual hospital floor-plant.Originality/value: This work proposes a novel FMS, which consists of integrated tools to support the mobile multi-robot dynamic path planning in a real-world hospital environment. These tools include: a routing engine that handles the geo-referenced data and the calculation of routes. A task scheduler that includes a mathematical model to solve the path planning problem, when a low number of robots is considered. In order to solve large size problems, a genetic algorithm is also implemented to compute the dynamic path planning with less computational effort. An Endorse broker to exchanges information between the robotic fleet and the FMS in a secure way. A backend API that provides interface to manage the master data of the FMS, to calculate an optimal assignment of a set of tasks to a group of robots to be executed on a specific date and time, and to add a new task to be executed in the current shift. Finally, a controller to ensures that the robots execute the tasks that have been assigned by the task scheduler.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 2253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Xue

In many areas, such as mobile robots, video games and driverless vehicles, path planning has always attracted researchers’ attention. In the field of mobile robotics, the path planning problem is to plan one or more viable paths to the target location from the starting position within a given obstacle space. Evolutionary algorithms can effectively solve this problem. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is currently recognized as one of the evolutionary algorithms with robust optimization capabilities and has solved various optimization problems. In this paper, NSGA-II is adopted to solve multi-objective path planning problems. Three objectives are introduced. Besides the usual selection, crossover and mutation operators, some practical operators are applied. Moreover, the parameters involved in the algorithm are studied. Additionally, another evolutionary algorithm and quality metrics are employed for examination. Comparison results demonstrate that non-dominated solutions obtained by the algorithm have good characteristics. Subsequently, the path corresponding to the knee point of non-dominated solutions is shown. The path is shorter, safer and smoother. This path can be adopted in the later decision-making process. Finally, the above research shows that the revised algorithm can effectively solve the multi-objective path planning problem in static environments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (01) ◽  
pp. 1760008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesimar da Silva Arantes ◽  
Márcio da Silva Arantes ◽  
Claudio Fabiano Motta Toledo ◽  
Onofre Trindade Júnior ◽  
Brian Charles Williams

The present paper applies a heuristic and genetic algorithms approaches to the path planning problem for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), during an emergency landing, without putting at risk people and properties. The path re-planning can be caused by critical situations such as equipment failures or extreme environmental events, which lead the current UAV mission to be aborted by executing an emergency landing. This path planning problem is introduced through a mathematical formulation, where all problem constraints are properly described. Planner algorithms must define a new path to land the UAV following problem constraints. Three path planning approaches are introduced: greedy heuristic, genetic algorithm and multi-population genetic algorithm. The greedy heuristic aims at quickly find feasible paths, while the genetic algorithms are able to return better quality solutions within a reasonable computational time. These methods are evaluated over a large set of scenarios with different levels of diffculty. Simulations are also conducted by using FlightGear simulator, where the UAV’s behaviour is evaluated for different wind velocities and wind directions. Statistical analysis reveal that combining the greedy heuristic with the genetic algorithms is a good strategy for this problem.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Bin Lei ◽  
Zhaoyuan Jiang ◽  
Haibo Mu

To improve the delivery efficiency of automated storage and retrieval system, the problem of the integrated optimization of mixed cargo packing and cargo location assignment is addressed. An integrated optimization model of mixed cargo packing and location assignments with the shortest time for the stacker in a certain historical period is established and is transformed into a conditional packing problem. An improved hybrid genetic algorithm based on a group coding method is designed to solve the problem. When the initial population is generated, a new heuristic algorithm is designed to improve the convergence speed of the genetic algorithm considering the correlation and frequency of the goods outbound. A heuristic algorithm for a two-dimensional rectangular-packing problem is designed to determine whether a variety of goods can be mixed in packing. Taking actual data from an automated storage and retrieval system for an aviation food company as an example, the established model and design algorithm are verified and the influence of changes in the outbound delivery orders on the optimization result is analyzed. The results show that compared to the method of separate storage of goods based on cube-per-order index rules and a phased optimization method of mixed storage of goods, an integrated optimization method of mixed cargo packing and location assignment can improve the outbound delivery efficiency of the stacking machine by 11.43–25.98% and 1.73–5.51%, respectively, and reduce the cargo location used by 50–55% and 0–10%, respectively. The stronger the correlation of the goods leaving a warehouse, the greater the potential of the design method in this paper to improve the efficiency of the stacker.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
wahiba FANDI ◽  
Sihem KOULOUGHLI ◽  
Latefa GHOMRI

Abstract Over the past few years, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs) have been increasingly improving. It is worth mentioning that multi-shuttle storage/retrieval (S/R) machines were gradually introduced to the market some years ago. These machines, which possess a high speed of execution, are able to transport several pallets at a time during the same trip, as opposed to single-shuttle S/R machines which can carry only one pallet at a time. It should be noted that the installation of this type of system requires a significant financial investment, and therefore it is highly recommended that this system be well studied and designed prior to its installation. It is widely acknowledged that one of the most important objectives while designing an AS/RS is to achieve the shortest time for one single cycle. The present work aims at designing an AS/RS with optimal dimensions for the purpose of minimizing the time in a multi-cycle implementation. To do this, it was decided to consider a multi-aisle automated storage/ retrieval system (AS/RS) with a multi-shuttle S/R machine. In addition, a genetic algorithm (GA) was used for the optimization of the system.


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