A Real-time Scheduling Method Considering Human Operators in Autonomous Distributed Manufacturing Systems

Abstract

A real-time scheduling method considering human operators is proposed, in this paper, to select suitable combinations of the human operators, the manufacturing equipment and the jobs for the manufacturing processes. The proposed scheduling method consists of three steps. In the first step, the human operators select their favourite processes which they will carry out in the next time period, based on their preferences. In the second step, the machine tools and the jobs select suitable combinations for the next machining processes. In the third step, the automated guided vehicles and the jobs select suitable combinations for the next transportation processes.