The steadily increasing number of variants of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) is leading to more and more different types of AGVs being used in parallel in material flow systems. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it is not always possible to use tailored solutions based on a uniform control software. Instead, AGVs from different manufacturers must be brought together, each with its own specific master controller. In most cases, it is not possible to exchange information between these controllers, which is why a great potential for process optimization remains unused. In the EPoSysKo research project, a coordinative control system was developed. It enables the exchange of information between several AGV systems (AGVSs) for the purpose of increasing efficiency. In contrast to a centralized or decentralized control architecture, the know-how of the AGVS manufacturers realized in the master controllers is thus taken into account. The more information from the master controllers is made available to the system coordinator, the more efficient the transport handling can be. This hypothesis was substantiated in the project by simulating a reference material flow system. For this purpose, several coordination mechanisms were developed and implemented. These mechanisms consider different amounts of information, from the target positions of active transport orders up to the routes of all vehicles. The result of the project consists, on the one hand, of a software-in-the-loop test bench for the system coordinator. This test bench allows the transport efficiency to be tested with different coordination algorithms and attached, simulated vehicle systems. On the other hand, we formulated recommended actions for manufacturers and (potential) users of AGVSs.     «

The steadily increasing number of variants of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) is leading to more and more different types of AGVs being used in parallel in material flow systems. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it is not always possible to use tailored solutions based on a uniform control software. Instead, AGVs from different manufacturers must be brought together, each with its own specific master controller. In most cases, it is not possible to exchange information...     »