Path planning for automated guided vehicle systems with time constraints using timed Petri nets

Abstract

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are extensively used in many applications such as intelligent transportation, logistics, and industrial factories. In this paper, we address the path planning problem for an AGV system (i.e. a team of identical AGVs) with logic and time constraints using Petri nets. We propose a method to model an AGV system and its static environment by timed Petri nets. Combining the structural characteristics of Petri nets and integer linear programming technique, a path planning method is developed to ensure that all task regions are visited by AGVs in time and forbidden regions are always avoided. Finally, simulation studies are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed path planning methodology.