Vehicle travel time analysis in automated guided vehicle systems

Design and evaluation of AGV-based material handling systems are very complicated due to the randomness and the large number of variables involved. Vehicle travel time is a key parameter for designing and evaluating AGV systems. Although loaded travel time is relatively easy to estimate, determination of empty vehicle travel time is difficult due to the inherent randomness of material handling systems. Most previous studies assume that the empty vehicle travel time is the same as the loaded travel time or assume very specific environments. This paper presents new vehicle travel time models for AGV-based material transport systems. The research effort is focused on the estimation of empty vehicle travel time under various vehicle dispatching policies. Simulation experiments are used to verify the proposed travel time models.