The article presents a method for preventing deadlocks in a transport system of autonomous mobile robots (carts) that is easy to implement in a simulation model. This method utilizes a queue-based approach. The first part of the article describes how to build a simulation model of a transport system using Arena software. The second part describes the deadlock prevention method. The correctness of this method has been confirmed through a simulation experiment.In modern production systems, transport subsystems using autonomous mobile robots (carts) are increasingly being used. Since transport activities do not generate added value to the product, transport systems performing these tasks are subject to optimization. The optimization criterion can be, for example, the minimization of: time, distance traveled, or costs associated with performing transport activities. Simulation methods are very often used in the search for optimal transport system solutions. Building a model of a transport system and conducting a simulation experiment is significantly cheaper and safer than testing on real objects. Proper preparation of the model requires solving a number of problems that also occur in real transport systems. Among the most important are the problem of determining cart routes and effective traffic control to avoid causing a deadlock in the transport system. A deadlock is understood as a state of the system in which no cart can continue to perform its transport activity. (…)
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Source: Logistyka Magazine