Shortest Path Methods for Automated Warehouse Applications

• K. C. T. Vivaldini UFSCAR
• M. Becker USP

Resumo

In materials handling activities, finding the best route for vehicles is a key factor for the improvement of productivity and efficiency and, reduction of costs. The shortest path is the most common criterion adopted in a routing problem. The difficulty in solving this problem is due to a large number of nonoptimal solutions. The best path is not always found if the quantity of maneuvers is not taken into account in the route. This paper reports a comparison of Dijkstra and Network Simplex Algorithms, and propose a modified version of Dijkstra’s Algorithm to reduce the number of vehicle maneuvers. In the results, as the environment complexity increased, the differences in the algorithm performances were highlighted.

Palavras-chave: Routing, Task analysis, Materials handling, Finite element analysis, Transportation, Shortest path problem, Loading