An approach to control automated warehouse systems

Amato, Francesco; Basile, Francesco; Carbone, C.; Chiacchio, Pasquale

doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2004.10.017

Cited by 53 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…the list of locations to visit in a single travel to store and to pick SUs), the cycle time is deterministic and it can be analytically computed. In this paper it is assumed the cranes work according to an extended version of the algorithm presented by the authors in [5] to optimize DC cycles, but the effectiveness of the approach here presented is independent of the crane algorithm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a certain sense, the control of the whole warehouse reduces to that of the cranes if the time to cover the IS is negligible. In [5] it is shown that a key point in the development of the warehouse optimization is that the crane optimization can be considered independent of the shuttle optimization if a shuttle requires a negligible time with respect to the crane mean cycle time to reach the crane bay from a picking bay. Thus, as soon as a cycle ends, a crane can start another cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A hybrid model for the control and the analysis of complex automated warehouse systems

2011

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An automated warehouse system has two main components: an automated storage and retrieval subsystem consisting of a number of aisles, each one served by a crane, and a picking area which is formed by bays where stock units coming from the aisles are partially emptied by human operators. These two components are connected via an interface area consisting of carousels, conveyors and buffers. This area is usually modeled as a discrete event system, while the overall system performance depends also on continuous time phenomena. A hybrid model focusing on the interface area is proposed in this paper to improve the control and the analysis of complex automated warehouse systems. A real case study is considered to show the effectiveness of the approach.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A hybrid model for the control and the analysis of complex automated warehouse systems

2011

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“…They are usually modeled by discrete event systems [9], [10]. In this framework each activity is modeled by a fixed time duration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colored Hybrid Petri-nets for modeling material handling systems

Basile

Chiacchio

Coppola

2011

IEEE Conference on Decision and Control and European Control Conference

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Material handling systems are usually modeled as discrete event systems. However, when the size of these systems grows, the overall system performances depend also on continuous time phenomena. We present a hybrid model based on a new Petri net formalism that merges the concepts of Hybrid Petri Nets and Colored Petri Nets to obtain compact models for these systems. An example is discussed in detail to motivate the introduction of a new formalism.

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“…Literature can be broadly classified following the same hierarchical schema used for the control system. Supervisory control problems largely focus on discrete event modeling tools such as PNs [1], [10], [11], or discrete event simulation [17], [20], [31]. Operational issues have also been extensively considered.…”

Section: A Literature Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Supervisory and Operational Control of a Warehouse With a Matrix-Based Approach

Giordano

Zhang

Naso

et al. 2008

IEEE Trans. Automat. Sci. Eng.

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Abstract-This paper considers a matrix-based discrete event control approach for a warehouse. The control system is organized in two modules: a dynamic model and a controller. The model provides a complete description of the discrete event dynamics of the warehouse, and is used as a means to track the stock-keeping units, and identify and inhibit control actions that violate system's constraints. The controller has several functions. At the supervisory level, it is in charge of inhibiting operations that may lead to deadlocks, commanding the actual start of the task, and the release of the resources once a task is completed. At the operational level, it is in charge of performing decisions regarding the order in which allowable tasks waiting for service should be performed. All the modules are implemented using the same matrix-based formalism, and thus integrated with each other. The main advantages of the approach are the inherent modularity (the matrix-based control is obtained by assembling individual atomic components), and the integration between the various modules, which permits a better overall resource utilization. Simulation examples describing an actual industrial warehouse are finally provided to emphasize the main advantages of the proposed approach.Note to Practitioners-This paper illustrates the application of a discrete-event modeling and control framework based on a matrix notation to an automated warehouse. The material handling equipment must continuously transfer stock-keeping units between various buffers using a network of interconnected rail guided vehicles. Since transfer requests are issued at random times, the role of the control system is extremely challenging, as it must handle low level tasks (synchronizing hardware, avoiding conflicts) and high level ones (allocating the rail guided vehicles efficiently to avoid congestions and long service times). Giving a complete mathematical characterization of such a system is challenging, due to its inherently turbulent and discrete-event nature. The proposed original approach allows one to attack the problem from a modular, divide-and-conquer perspective. In fact, the complete model of the system is achieved by a sequence of simple modeling steps, starting from the description of the atomic components of the system, and progressively specifying constraints, objectives and control rules to obtain a complete characterization of the entire system within a unified formalism based on binary matrices. Since the final model integrates supervisory and operational functions, it permits to perform the allocation of rail guided vehicles more effectively, using in- formation that is generally unavailable to the dispatching modules. Examples and numerical results based on the equipment actually operating in the warehouse are also provided to illustrate the potential of the approach.

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An approach to control automated warehouse systems

Cited by 53 publications

References 19 publications

A hybrid model for the control and the analysis of complex automated warehouse systems

A hybrid model for the control and the analysis of complex automated warehouse systems

Colored Hybrid Petri-nets for modeling material handling systems

Integrated Supervisory and Operational Control of a Warehouse With a Matrix-Based Approach

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