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A Look-Ahead Dispatching Method for Automated Guided Vehicles in Automated Port Container Terminals

Department of Industrial Engineering, Pusan National University, 30 Changjeon-dong, Kumjeong-ku, Pusan, 609-735, South Korea
Division of Transportation and Logistics System Engineering, Yosu National University, San 96-1 Dundeok-dong, Yeosu City, Jeollanam-do, South Korea
kapkim{at}hyowon.pusan.ac.kr
jwbae{at}yosu.ac.kr

To reduce delay in ship operations in automated container terminals, it is important to make different types of container handling equipment to operate harmoniously during this operation. Delivery operations by automated guided vehicles (AGVs) play an important role for synchronizing operations of container cranes with yard cranes. This study discusses how to dispatch AGVs by utilizing information about locations and times of future delivery tasks. A mixed-integer programming model is provided for assigning optimal delivery tasks to AGVs. A heuristic algorithm is suggested for overcoming the excessive computational time needed for solving the mathematical model. Objective values and computational times of the heuristic algorithm are compared with those of the optimizing method. To test performances of the heuristic algorithm, a simulation study is performed by considering the uncertainties of various operation times and the number of future delivery tasks for looking ahead. Also, the performance of the heuristic algorithm is compared with those of other dispatching rules.

Key Words: container port terminal; automated guided vehicle; dispatching
History: Received: September 2000; revised: June 2002; revised: December 2002; accepted: May 2002.