Integrated Scheduling of the Job and AGV for Flexible Manufacturing System

Job scheduling and AGV scheduling in FMS are regarded as two independent problems by most researchers. Their isolation ignores AGV’s use conflicts in the job scheduling and leads to low average equipment utilization. We point out the necessity for the job scheduling to integrate with AGV scheduling through analyzing scheduling problem of a specific type of FMS with single AGV and single buffer area. Then a corresponding mathematic model for integrated scheduling is presented based on the problem description and constraints for scheduling. A specific FMS is adopted to validate this integrated scheduling model. Based on data from this FMS, the model is performed through genetic algorithm with appropriate parameters. And job’s processing sequences as well as AGV’s moving path are obtained from the optimal gene order. The experiment result of this scheduling model adopting genetic algorithm shows good computing efficiency and equipment utilization.