Multi-agent path planning: comparison of different behaviors in the case of collisions

Abstract

In the context of Industry 4.0 and cyber-physical production systems, the role of production logistics is perceived as more and more important in order to reach the overall manufacturing targets. One central aspect in organizing the flow of material consists in task allocation and path planning for transport resources disposing of growing autonomy. There are various approaches for multi-agent path planning as well as the way of dealing with collisions. Collisions are possible due to traffic volume and can either be treated on planning level or in a short-term way on control level. The paper presents existing strategies for path finding before giving an overview of methods to deal with autonomous transport resources that meet in a manufacturing environment. Then, different existing behaviors and reactions in the case of collision detection based on several criteria are compared. This step allows classifying the strategies depending on the manufacturing environment and its organization.