Zone-Control-Based Traffic Control of Automated Guided Vehicles

Abstract

This chapter is on the design of automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems within the framework of the traditional zone-control strategy. Our focus will be on the descriptions of two things: (1) a novel event-based zone-control model which includes formal definitions of the road network used by the vehicles and the event-based behavior the vehicles must follow while in operation and (2) a set of traffic control rules that excludes inter-vehicle collisions and system deadlocks but imposes no restrictions on route selections of vehicles. We also briefly mention an application of the proposed strategy to the container transshipment at a container terminal, where the interested reader will be led to a reference. At the end, we point out several possible directions for further work.