Algorithms for Cellular Transportation Systems

In August 2009 Prof. Dr.-Ing. Willibald Günthner, Institute for Materials Handling, Material Flow, Logistics at the Technische Universität München and Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel, Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, started the corporate research project »Algorithms and Communication Systems for Cellular Transportation Systems«. The Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen »Otto von Guericke« e.V. (AiF) sponsors this project of the research association Bundesvereinigung Logistik e.V. (BVL) within the program IGF (Förderung der industriellen Gemeinschaftsforschung und –entwicklung) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) based on a resolution of the German Federal Parliament.

The aim of the research project is to develop algorithms for the operation of a materials handling system on the basis of a cooperating vehicles collective including a simulation environment. Among other things these algorithms shall assure order scheduling, collision free navigation as well as the completion of any transport order within the agreed time. A main condition for that is the secure and fast communication between the vehicles. The approach with a blackboard is adequate for coordination, cooperation and collision avoiding in large vehicle swarms. Therefore in the context of this research project several decentral information nodes will be used by all system participants as a »bill-board« to publish and collect information.

• LOCATIVE - Low Cost Automated Guided Vehicle
• Serva AGV - Automatic Car Parking
• AGV Conference
• Control Software for Heavy Duty AGV
  
• Automatic Diesel Trolley
• Variable Running Gear
• Cellular Transportation Systems

»The introduction of Cellular Transportation Systems comes along with a decentralization of data management and that's a step to handle the complexity in logistics.«