A centroid opposition-based coral reefs algorithm for solving an automated guided vehicle routing problem with a recharging constraint

Abstract

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have been utilized extensively in material handling systems. In this paper, a synchronization problem of task scheduling and AGV routing is studied on a shop floor with reconfigurable machine tools. The objective is to minimize the maximum completion time (i.e., makespan) of all products. Studying scheduling and routing problems simultaneously, we propose a centroid opposition-based coral reefs optimization (COCRO) algorithm combined with a heuristic. The developed heuristic uses the Dijkstra algorithm to extract collision-free paths. To test the performance of the proposed algorithm, its results are compared to the results of the algorithm used in the literature recently. The results indicate the superiority of the COCRO algorithm. Finally, the performance of the system under different circumstances is analyzed. Based on the results, it can be claimed that reconfigurable machines reduce production time by up to 35%. Furthermore, the capacity of AGVs has a more significant role than the number of AGVs in the production time. Also, comparing four widely used types of batteries (i.e., sealed GEL, AGM pure-lead, Lithium, and flooded lead-acid), the result confirms the superiority of Lithium batteries.