Collision-Free Route Planning for Multiple AGVs in an Automated Warehouse Based on Collision Classification

An automated warehouse system contains a number of materials, workstations, and multiple Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). The automated warehouse is server-controlled. This paper proposes a collision-free routing method for AGVs based on collision classification. This method can deal with collisions arising in the automated warehouse. It first divides the warehouse environment into five areas, and then performs route planning. In this paper, the environment map for AGVs is described by using the grid method. The initial route of each task is predetermined by improved Dijkstra’s algorithm. The server detects the potential collisions by comparing each workstation’s ID and corresponding time window in every route. This paper presents four collision classifications and three solutions. Based upon the analyses and experiments, we select the corresponding solution for each type of collision. Presented case studies demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed collision-free route planning approach.