Bio-inspired traffic pattern generation for multi-AMR systems

Vrabič, Rok (avtor), Malus, Andreja (avtor), Dvoršak, Jure (avtor), Klančar, Gregor (avtor), Žužek, Tena (avtor)

In intralogistics, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) operate without predefined paths, leading to complex traffic patterns and potential conflicts that impact system efficiency. This paper proposes a bio-inspired optimization method for autonomously generating spatial movement constraints for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Unlike traditional multi-agent pathfinding (MAPF) approaches, which focus on temporal coordination, our approach proactively reduces conflicts by adapting a weighted directed grid graph to improve traffic flow. This is achieved through four mechanisms inspired by ant colony systems: (1) a movement reward that decreases the weight of traversed edges, similar to pheromone deposition, (2) a delay penalty that increases edge weights along delayed paths, (3) a collision penalty that increases weights at conflict locations, and (4) an evaporation mechanism that prevents premature convergence to suboptimal solutions. Compared to the existing approaches, the proposed approach addresses the entire intralogistic problem, including plant layout, task distribution, release and dispatching algorithms, and fleet size. Its autonomous movement rule generation and low computational complexity make it well suited for dynamic intralogistic environments. Validated through physics-based simulations in Gazebo across three scenarios, a standard MAPF benchmark, and two industrial environments, the movement constraints generated using the proposed method improved the system throughput by up to 10% compared to unconstrained navigation and up to 4% compared to expert-designed solutions while reducing the need for conflict-resolution interventions.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: autonomous mobile robots, ant colony optimization, logistics
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FS - Fakulteta za strojništvo
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Datum objave: 01.01.2025
• Leto izida: 2024
• Št. strani: 22 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 15, iss. 5
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-167696
• UDK: 531.176.2
• ISSN pri članku: 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app15052849
• COBISS.SI-ID: 228199171
• Datum objave v RUL: 07.03.2025

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Applied sciences
• Skrajšan naslov: Appl. sci.
• Založnik: MDPI
• ISSN: 2076-3417
• COBISS.SI-ID: 522979353

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: avtonomni mobilni roboti, optimizacija s kolonijo mravelj, logistika