Positioning of automated guided vehicles in a loop layout to improve response time

One of the control decisions in the operation of an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) System is that of determining the home positions for idle vehicles. A home position is a location strategically selected wtithin the AGV System network for holding idle vehicles. Such point selection is based on the system operational objective. In this paper, the problem of selecting the home positions of vehicles in a single loop type AGV network is addressed. Several single loop home selection models, along with solution methodologies are presented. The models are constructed based on the objective of minimizing the dead travel time of vehicles.