AUTOMATED GUIDED VECHILES

Worked out Problems:

1. A planned fleet of forklift trucks has an average travel distance per delivery =500 ft
loaded and an average empty travel distance =350 ft. The fleet must take a total of
60 del/hr. Load and unload times are each .5 min and the speed of the vehicle = 300
ft/min. The traffic factor for the system =.85. Availability is expected to be .95 and
worker efficiency is assumed to be.90. Determine: (a) idle cycle time per delivery, (b)
the resulting average number of deliveries per hour that a forklift truck can make, and
(c) how many trucks are required to accomplish the 60del/hr.

2. An automated guided vehicle system has an average travel distance per delivery
=200m and an average empty travel distance=150m. Load and unload times are
each 24s and the speed of the AGV=1m/s. Traffic factor=0.9.How many vehicle are
needed to satisfy a delivery requirement of 30del/hr? Assume A= 0.95.

3. Four forklift trucks are used to deliver pallet loads of parts between works cells in the
factory Average travel distance loaded is 350ft, and the travel distance empty is
estimated to be the same. The trucks are driven at an average speed of 3m/hr when
loaded and4m/hr when empty. Terminal time per delivery average 1 min (load =0.5min
and unload =0.5min) If the traffic factor is assumed to be 0.90, availability =1.0 and
work efficiency = 0.95, what is the maximum hourly delivery rate of the four truck?

4. An AGVs has an average loaded travel distance per delivery =400ft. The average
empty travel distance is not known. Required number of deliveries per hour=
60.load and unload times are each 0.6 min and the AGVs speed = 125ft/min.
Anticipated traffic factor =0.80. Availability =0.95. Develop an equation that
relates the number of vehicles required to operate the system as a function of the
average empty travel distance Le.

5. Give AGVs layout shown in fig (1) .Vehicle travel counter clock wise around the
loop to deliver loads from the load station. Loading time at the load station =0.75
min, and unloading time at the unload station =0.50 min. It is desired to determine
how many vehicles are required to satisfy demand for this layout if a total of 40del/hr
must be completed by the AGVs. The following performance parameter are given:
vehicle velocity = 50m/min, Availability =0.95, traffic factor =0.95 and operator
efficiency does not apply , so E=1.0.Determine: (a) travel distance loaded and empty
, (b) ideal delivery cycle time and (c) number of vehicle required to satisfy the
delivery demand.
Problem6. An AGVS has an average loaded travel distance per delivery = 400ft. The
average empty travel distance is not known. Required number of
deliveries per hr= 60. Load and unload times are each 0.6 min and the
AGV speed = 125ft/min. Anticipated traffic factor = 0.80.
Availability=0.95. Develop an equation that relates the number of vehicles
required to operate the system as a function of the average empty travel
distance Le.

Problem7. An automated guided vehicle system is being proposed to delivers parts

between40 workstation in a factory. Load must be moved from each
station about once every hour; thus, the delivery rate = 40 load/hr.
Average travel distance loaded is estimated to be 250 ft and travel distance
empty is estimated to be 300 ft. Vehicle move at a speed = 200 ft/min.
total handling time per delivery = 1.5 min (load=0.75 min and unload =
0.75min).Traffic factor Ft becomes increasingly significant as the number
of vehicles n, increases: this can be modelled as:
Ft = 1.0 - 0.05( - 1) for = Integer > 0
Determine the minimum number of vehicles needed in the factory to meet
the flow rate requirement.
Problem8. An AGVS is being planned for a warehouse complex. The AGVS will be a
driverless train system, and each train will consist of the towing vehicle
plus four pulled carts. The speed of the trains will be 160ft/min. Only the
pulled carts carry loads. The average loaded travel distance per delivery
cycle is 2000 ft and empty travel distance is the same .Anticipated travel
factor = 0.95.The load handling time per train per delivery is expected to
be 10 min. If the requirement on the AGVS is 25cart loads/hr
predetermine the number of the trains required. Assume A=1.0.
Problem9. Four forklift trucks are used to deliver pallet loads of parts between work
cells in a factory. Average travel distance loaded is 350 ft, and the distance
 travel empty is estimated to be the same. The trucks are driven at an
average speed of 3 mi/hr when loaded and 4 mi/hr when empty. Terminal
time per delivery average 1.0 min (load=0.5 min and unload=0.5min). If
the traffic factor is assumed to be 0.95, availability = 1.0 and work
efficiency = 0.85, what is the maximum hourly delivery rate of the four
trucks?
Problem10. An AGVS will be used to satisfy materials material flows indicated in the
from-to –chart t in the following table, which shows deliveries per hour
between station (above the slash) and distances in meters between stations
(below the slash).MOVE indicated by “L” are trips in which the vehicle is
loaded, while “E” indicates moves in which the vehicle is empty. A traffic
factor = 0.85 is assumed. Assume availability A =0.90. Speed of an
AGV=0.9 m/s. If load handling time per delivery = 1.0 min, determine the
number of vehicles needed to satisfy the indicated deliveries per hour?
Suggested Brief Answers:

Ans 1 Given data

Average loaded travel distance per delivery, = 500ft
Average empty travel distance = 350ft
Total delivery required in the system = 60del/hr
Holding and loading time = = TL =0.5 min
Speed of vehicle v = 300 ft/min
Traffic factor = 0.85 A= 0.95, E=0.90
(a) Total cycle time per delivery

TC = + + + = 0.5+ + 0.5+ = 3.83 min

(b) Average number of deliver per hour

= = 60 x0.85/ 3.83 = 13 del/hr/vehicle

(c) No of vehicle required

= 60/13 =5

Ans 2 Given data:

=200m =150m , = = 24 sec =.4min, = 0.9 A= 0.95
Total number of delivery required = 30del/hr
The number of vehicle required to satisfy delivery required

= WL/AT =

TC = + + + = 24+200/1+24+150/1 = 6.63 min

 = = (30×6.63)/ (60×1×0.9×0.95) = 4

Ans 3 Given data:

Number of forklift truck =4
Average travel distance = 350ft, Le =350ft
Vehicle speed = 3 min/hr =9.84 feet/hr (loaded)
Vehicle speed = 4 min/hr = 13.12 feet/hr (unload)
Holding and loading time TH = TL =0.5 min
= 0.9 A= 1, E=0.95

Ideal cycle time TC = + + +

= 0.5+ + 0.5 + = 2.03 min

Number of vehicle required

= =4
= 101del/hr
Hourly delivery /vehicle = AT/TC = (60×E×A× )/ TC
= (60× 0.95 ×0.9)/2.03 =25.27 del/hr/veh
Ans 4 Given data:
Average loaded travel distance per delivery =400ft
Average empty travel distance per delivery =?
Required number of delivery per hour = 60 del/hr
= TL = 0.6 min, = 0.8 A= 0.95, =?
Total ideal cycle time per delivery

TC = + + + = 0.6+ 400/125+0.6+ Le/ 125 = 4.4+ Le/ 125

Available time = AT = (60×E×A×Tf) = 45.6 min/hr/vehicle

= × (4.4 + Le/125) = 1.315 (4.4 + Le/125)

Le = 125 ( -5.8).
Ans 5 (a) Ignoring effect of slightly shorter distances around the curve at corners of the
loop, the value of and are readily determined from the layout to be 110m and 80
m, respectively.
(b) Ideal cycle time per delivery per vehicle is given by
 TC = + + + = = 0.75+110/50+.50+80/50 =5.05 min.
(c) To determine the number of vehicles required to make 40del/hr, we
compute the workload of the AGVs and the available time per hour per
vehicle.
WL = 40× (5.05) = 202 min/hr
AT = 60 × (0.95) × (0.90) × (1.0) = 51.3 min/hr per vehicle
Therefore the number of vehicle required is
= 202/51.3 = 3.94 = 4 vehicles (value should be integer)
Ans 6 =5.78 + 0.0105Le)
Ans 8
Ans 9 23.27 del/hr/vehicle

Ans 10 =3

The above mentioned problems are taken from the text books given below. I am
thankful for the authors.

REFERENCES
1. Automation, Production System, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing, by
Mikell P. Groover.
2. Manufacturing Process –II by H.S. BAWA.
3. Systems Approach to Computer-Integrated Design and Manufacturing, by Nanua
Singh.