Abstract: In order to improve the operation efficiency of multi-AGVs in the automatic packing system, a two-stage online cooperative scheduling algorithm is proposed to solve the multi-AGV online scheduling problem, which is based on the optimization objective of minimizing the AGV operation time combined with the constraints of the actual working conditions. The algorithm is developed based on the simulation model of the automatic packing system. Firstly, the handling task assignment algorithm based on the AGV running time is used to solve the handling task assignment problem; secondly, the path planning algorithm with AGV priority rules and conflict resolution strategies is designed to solve the path planning problem; finally, the Spatio-Temporal Blocking Table (STBT) is used to record the Spatio-Temporal Blocking Degree (STBD) of the paths and the estimated waiting time, and the information in the table is incorporated into the two-stage collaborative scheduling algorithm as the constraints. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified by simulation cases with different scales, and the superiority of the proposed algorithm is verified by comparison experiments with related research results.

Key words: automatic packing system, AGV, two-stage online cooperative scheduling algorithm, path planning, task assignment