A transient-based real-time scheduling algorithm in FMS

Real-time scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) is a difficult problem because of the complexities and dynamic behaviour of FMS. In this paper, a transient-based real-time scheduling algorithm which selects a dispatching rule dynamically for a next short time period in order to respond to changes of system state is proposed. In this algorithm, the scheduling interval associated with the selected dispatching rule is defined based on the system transient state as predicted by discrete event simulation. Simulation is also applied to evaluate the performance of the candidate dispatching rules for the next scheduling interval.