Collaborative Design Methodlogy For Workshop Layout And Automatic Guide Vehicle System

"Made in China 2025" requires intelligent manufacturing process, and build flexible digital workshops in key fields. The flexible reconfigurable manufacturing system is one of the major problems, challenging frontier and significant topic. To solve this problem, this dissertation proposed a new co-evoltionary design methodology for production workshop layout and Automatic Guide Vehicle (AGV for short) system planning, which belongs to the flexible re-configurable manufacturing system. The workshop layout tackles machines allocation, operation sequences, AGV's loading and path planning. AGV's system planning includes ordering process, machines allocation (machines grouping) and AGV's scheduling. Previous studies showed that there are a large number of coupling factors in any of these problems. Moreover, due to the tightly coupled relationship between production machines layout and AGV system planning, they must be integrated optimization design. And this will be helpful to meet the requirements of the flexible reconfiguration of the manufacturing svstem.In the previous studies, because the layout of plant equipment and the planning of AGV system are complex, they were studied separately in traditional. Although some notable achievements were made, integrating study need pay more attention. In recent years, some researchers employed step-by-step solution to study the integration of the two parts. For example, solve the layout of plant equipment firstly, and then solve the AGV system planning. The advantage of this method is that the two parts are integrated, and the disadvantage is that it is a non-collaborative optimization design. And it is difficult to meet the flexible reconfigurable requirements. At present, the problem urgently need to be resolved is how to adjust the number of machines and type (grouping) in the workshop area, and the flexibility and appropriation matched in machines layout and AGV system planning under a given design goal. It is particularly important to achieve overall coordination between the interior and exterior of the regions to meet the constantly changing flexible reconfigurable requirements of the manufacturing system. Different from the above method, this dissertation presents a collaborative design method for integration of the two parts to deal with this problem.To solve this problem, this dissertation proposes a new collaborative design method of workshop machines layout and AGV system planning, aiming to meet the requirements of flexible re-configurable manufacturing system. The basic idea of this dissertation regards the workshop layout and AGV system planning as a system from the point of view of the system design. And this work is the first time to integrate the two parts. Then, based on Bozer's multi-regional AGV system, this dissertation divides the workshop into several areas and put them in a co-evolution frameworks (Potter's CC), and solved this problem by co-evolutionary algorithm. The sequencing and layout of the equipment and AGV path planning in each area are solved by the cooperative co-evolutionary fuzzy invasive weed optimization algorithm (CCFIWO for short) and the micro artificial bee colony algorithm (CCMABC for short).In addition, the machines grouping adopts the machines grouping generator to deal with the assignment of the type and the number of machines, so that it can meet the flexible re-configurable requirements in manufacturing system. In theory, this design belongs to a collaborative design problem in the coupling system between a class of machines layout and AGV system planning. In application, this problem is a practical problem to be solved exists in flexible re-configurable manufacturing system.Main contributions of this dissertation are as follows.Firstly, a mathematical model of integrated cooperative design for layout and AGV system planning of flexible workshop is presented. With the collaborative design of plant equipment layout and AGV system planning, this dissertation analyzed the coupling relationship between them, and made a comparative analysis with the related models of non-cooperative design discussed in the past and built an integrated model of collaborative design. The mathematical model gives a mathematical description between the internal and external machines of areas and its layout and the planning of the AGV system, and the relationship between them. Meanwhile, it gives the fitness function expression of the design to meet the flexible re-configurable system requirements of the machines and its layout adjustment and the mathematical description of AGV system planning re-matching.This model is the foundation for solving the collaborative design method.Secondly, a collaborative design framework for the integration of workshop layout and AGV system planning is proposed. From the point of view of system design, the workshop equipment layout and AGV systems are designed integration. Then, the collaborative design framework will be used in each area of the workshop as a subsystem, and the subsystems are relatively independent and in parallel. Through the overall coordination mechanism to achieve collaborative design, this dissertation uses algorithms to solve the workshop machines layout and AGV system planning collaborative design. So the framework is helpful to realize the "flexible re-configurable", and it is verified by three examples of different scales with the background of actual engineering.Thirdly, the dissertation gives the solving Algorithm for mathematical model based on collaborative design framework, which includes the cooperative co-evolutionary fuzzy invasive weed optimization (CCFIWO for short) and cooperative co-evolutionary micro artificial bee colony algorithm (CCMABC for short). CCFIWO introduces fuzzy adjustment coefficient and crossover, mutation and rebirth strategy to improve the individual generation, and enhance the ability to jump out of the local optimum and global optimization:CCMABC employ a small population, and its speed is relatively fast. While supplemented by the elite individual pool, CCMABC make full use of existing elite individuals. The two algorithms are verified by cases. The validation of the above three items showed the effectiveness of the collaborative design method in this dissertation.Finally, a prototype of workshop equipment layout and AGV system collaborative planning system is developed, which includes the pre-treatment, simulation module of workshop machines layout and layout design module, also an example of designing is given.The significance of this dissertation:is stated as the collaborative design of workshop machines layout and AGV system planning is helpful to realize its flexibility, improve productivity, reduce the cost of material transportation and improve the efficiency of the enterprise. In theory, a mathematical model and the framework of collaborative design of workshop equipment layout and AGV system planning and its solving method are given. And the software prototype of collaborative design for workshop equipment layout and AGV system planning is provided. It is expected that the collaborative design of workshop machines and AGV system planning will help to meet the requirements of the flexible re-configurable manufacturing system.This method is also expected to provide reference for the collaborative design of machines layout and AGV system planning for warehouse, wharf, airport and so on.