Two-Stage Optimal Scheduling of Community Integrated Energy System

From the perspective of a community energy operator,a two-stage optimal scheduling model of a community integrated energy system is proposed by integrating information on controllable loads.The day-ahead scheduling analyzes whether various controllable loads participate in the optimization and investigates the impact of their responses on the operating economy of the community integrated energy system(IES)before and after;the intra-day scheduling proposes a two-stage rolling optimization model based on the day-ahead scheduling scheme,taking into account the fluctuation of wind turbine output and load within a short period of time and according to the different response rates of heat and cooling power,and solves the adjusted output of each controllable device.The simulation results show that the optimal scheduling of controllable loads effectively reduces the comprehensive operating costs of community IES;the two-stage optimal scheduling model can meet the energy demand of customers while effectively and timely suppressing the random fluctuations on both sides of the source and load during the intra-day stage,realizing the economic and smooth operation of IES.

Improved Ant Colony Algorithm for Vehicle Scheduling Problem in Airport Ground Service Support

Support vehicles are part of the main body of airport ground operations,and their scheduling efficiency directly impacts flight delays.A mathematical model is constructed and the responsiveness of support vehicles for current operational demands is proposed to study optimization algorithms for vehicle scheduling.The model is based on the constraint relationship of the initial operation time,time window,and gate position distribution,which gives an improvement to the ant colony algorithm(ACO).The impacts of the improved ACO as used for support vehicle optimization are compared and analyzed.The results show that the scheduling scheme of refueling trucks based on the improved ACO can reduce flight delays caused by refueling operations by 56.87%,indicating the improved ACO can improve support vehicle scheduling.Besides,the improved ACO can jump out of local optima,which can balance the working time of refueling trucks.This research optimizes the scheduling scheme of support vehicles under the existing conditions of airports,which has practical significance to fully utilize ground service resources,improve the efficiency of airport ground operations,and effectively reduce flight delays caused by ground service support.

Large-Scale Vehicle Platooning:Advances and Challenges in Scheduling and Planning Techniques

Through vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V)communication,autonomizing a vehicle platoon can significantly reduce the distance between vehicles,thereby reducing air resistance and improving road traffic efficiency.The gradual maturation of platoon control technology is enabling vehicle platoons to achieve basic driving functions,thereby permitting large-scale vehicle platoon scheduling and planning,which is essential for industrialized platoon applications and generates significant economic benefits.Scheduling and planning are required in many aspects of vehicle platoon operation;here,we outline the advantages and challenges of a number of the most important applications,including platoon formation scheduling,lane-change planning,passing traffic light scheduling,and vehicle resource allocation.This paper’s primary objective is to integrate current independent platoon scheduling and planning techniques into an integrated architecture to meet the demands of large-scale platoon applications.To this end,we first summarize the general techniques of vehicle platoon scheduling and planning,then list the primary scenarios for scheduling and planning technique application,and finally discuss current challenges and future development trends in platoon scheduling and planning.We hope that this paper can encourage related platoon researchers to conduct more systematic research and integrate multiple platoon scheduling and planning technologies and applications.

Automatic Driving Material Handling Vehicle Station Location and Scheduling Mathematical Modeling and Analysis

Traditional material handling vehicles often use internal combustion engines as their power source, which results in exhaust emissions that pollute the environment. In contrast, automated material handling vehicles have the advantages of zero emissions, low noise, and low vibration, thus avoiding exhaust pollution and providing a more comfortable working environment for operators. In order to achieve the goals of “peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060”, the use of environmentally friendly autonomous material handling vehicles for material transportation is an inevitable trend. To maximize the amount of transported materials, consider peak-to-valley electricity pricing, battery pack procurement, and the construction of charging and swapping stations while achieving “minimum daily transportation volume” and “lowest investment and operational cost over a 3-year settlement period” with the shortest overall travel distance for all material handling vehicles, this paper examines two different scenarios and establishes goal programming models. The appropriate locations for material handling vehicle swapping stations and vehicle battery pack scheduling schemes are then developed using the NSGA-II algorithm and ant colony optimization algorithm. The results show that, while ensuring a daily transportation volume of no less than 300 vehicles, the lowest investment and operational cost over a 3-year settlement period is approximately 24.1 million Yuan. The material handling vehicles follow the shortest path of 119.2653 km passing through the designated retrieval points and have two shortest routes. Furthermore, the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed models are analyzed, followed by an evaluation, deepening, and potential extension of the models. Finally, future research directions in this field are suggested.

AGV Scheduling Optimization of Automated Port Based on Disruption Management

The recent rapid development of China’s foreign trade has led to the significant increase in waterway transportation and automated container ports. Automated terminals can significantly improve the loading and unloading efficiency of container terminals. These terminals can also increase the port’s transportation volume while ensuring the quality of cargo loading and unloading, which has become an inevitable trend in the future development of ports. However, the continuous growth of the port’s transportation volume has increased the horizontal transportation pressure on the automated terminal, and the problems of route conflicts and road locks faced by automated guided vehicles (AGV) have become increasingly prominent. Accordingly, this work takes Xiamen Yuanhai automated container terminal as an example. This work focuses on analyzing the interference problem of path conflict in its horizontal transportation AGV scheduling. Results show that path conflict, the most prominent interference factor, will cause AGV scheduling to be unable to execute the original plan. Consequently, the disruption management was used to establish a disturbance recovery model, and the Dijkstra algorithm for combining with time windows is adopted to plan a conflict-free path. Based on the comparison with the rescheduling method, the research obtains that the deviation of the transportation path and the deviation degree of the transportation path under the disruption management method are much lower than those of the rescheduling method. The transportation path deviation degree of the disruption management method is only 5.56%. Meanwhile, the deviation degree of the transportation path under the rescheduling method is 44.44%.

Study on scheduling algorithm for multiple handling requests of single automated guided vehicles

To solve the problem of small amount of machining centers in small and medium flexible manufacture systems(FMS), a scheduling mode of single automated guided vehicle(AGV) is adopted to deal with multiple transport requests in this paper. Firstly, a workshop scheduling mechanism of AGV is analyzed and a mathematical model is established using Genetic Algorithm. According to several sets of transport priority of AGV, processes of FMS are encoded, and fitness function, selection, crossover, and variation methods are designed. The transport priority which has the least impact on scheduling results is determined based on the simulation analysis of Genetic Algorithm, and the makespan, the longest waiting time, and optimal route of the car are calculated. According to the actual processing situation of the workshop, feasibility of this method is verified successfully to provide an effective solution to the scheduling problem of single AGV.

A two-stage optimization method for unmanned aerial vehicle inspection of an oil and gas pipeline network

Oil and gas pipeline networks are a key link in the coordinated development of oil and gas both upstream and downstream.To improve the reliability and safety of the oil and gas pipeline network, inspections are implemented to minimize the risk of leakage, spill and theft, as well as documenting actual incidents. In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles have been recognized as a promising option for inspection due to their high efficiency. However, the integrated optimization of unmanned aerial vehicle inspection for oil and gas pipeline networks, including physical feasibility, the performance of mission, cooperation, real-time implementation and three-dimensional(3-D) space, is a strategic problem due to its large-scale,complexity as well as the need for efficiency. In this work, a novel mixed-integer nonlinear programming model is proposed that takes into account the constraints of the mission scenario and the safety performance of unmanned aerial vehicles. To minimize the total length of the inspection path, the model is solved by a two-stage solution method. Finally, a virtual pipeline network and a practical pipeline network are set as two examples to demonstrate the performance of the optimization schemes. Moreover, compared with the traditional genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm, the self-adaptive genetic simulated annealing algorithm proposed in this paper provides strong stability.

A Two-Stage Vehicle Type Recognition Method Combining the Most Effective Gabor Features

Vehicle type recognition(VTR)is an important research topic due to its significance in intelligent transportation systems.However,recognizing vehicle type on the real-world images is challenging due to the illumination change,partial occlusion under real traffic environment.These difficulties limit the performance of current state-of-art methods,which are typically based on single-stage classification without considering feature availability.To address such difficulties,this paper proposes a two-stage vehicle type recognition method combining the most effective Gabor features.The first stage leverages edge features to classify vehicles by size into big or small via a similarity k-nearest neighbor classifier(SKNNC).Further the more specific vehicle type such as bus,truck,sedan or van is recognized by the second stage classification,which leverages the most effective Gabor features extracted by a set of Gabor wavelet kernels on the partitioned key patches via a kernel sparse representation-based classifier(KSRC).A verification and correction step based on minimum residual analysis is proposed to enhance the reliability of the VTR.To improve VTR efficiency,the most effective Gabor features are selected through gray relational analysis that leverages the correlation between Gabor feature image and the original image.Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method not only improves the accuracy of VTR but also enhances the recognition robustness to illumination change and partial occlusion.

Optimization for vehicle scheduling in iron and steel works based on semi-trailer swap transport

In order to solve internal logistics problems of iron and steel works,such as low transportation efficiency of vehicles and high transportation cost,the production process and traditional transportation style of iron and steel works were introduced.The internal transport tasks of iron and steel works were grouped based on cluster analysis according to demand time of the transportation.An improved vehicle scheduling model of semi-trailer swap transport among loading nodes and unloading nodes in one task group was set up.The algorithm was designed to solve the vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pick-up and delivery(VRPSPD) problem based on semi-trailer swap transport.A solving program was written by MATLAB software and the method to figure out the optimal path of each grouping was obtained.The dropping and pulling transportation plan of the tractor was designed.And an example of semi-trailer swap transport in iron and steel works was given.The results indicate that semi-trailer swap transport can decrease the numbers of vehicles and drivers by 54.5% and 88.6% respectively compared with decentralized scheduling in iron and steel works,and the total distance traveled reduces by 43.5%.The semi-trailer swap transport can help the iron and steel works develop the production in intension.

Simultaneous scheduling of machines and automated guided vehicles in flexible manufacturing systems using genetic algorithms

The problem of simultaneous scheduling of machines and vehicles in flexible manufacturing system (FMS) was addressed.A spreadsheet based genetic algorithm (GA) approach was presented to solve the problem.A domain independent general purpose GA was used,which was an add-in to the spreadsheet software.An adaptation of the propritary GA software was demonstrated to the problem of minimizing the total completion time or makespan for simultaneous scheduling of machines and vehicles in flexible manufacturing systems.Computational results are presented for a benchmark with 82 test problems,which have been constructed by other researchers.The achieved results are comparable to the previous approaches.The proposed approach can be also applied to other problems or objective functions without changing the GA routine or the spreadsheet model.

The Information Modeling and Intelligent Optimization Method for Logistics Vehicle Routing and Scheduling with Multi-objective and Multi-constraint

The vehicle routing and scheduling (VRS) problem with multi-objective and multi-constraint is analyzed, considering the complexity of the modern logistics in city economy and daily life based on the system engineering. The objective and constraint includes loading, the dispatch and arrival time, transportation conditions,total cost,etc. An information model and a mathematical model are built,and a method based on knowledge and biologic immunity is put forward for optimizing and evaluating the programs dimensions in vehicle routing and scheduling with multi-objective and multi-constraints. The proposed model and method are illustrated in a case study concerning a transport network, and the result shows that more optimization solutions can be easily obtained and the method is efficient and feasible. Comparing with the standard GA and the standard GA without time constraint,the computational time of the algorithm is less in this paper. And the probability of gaining optimal solution is bigger and the result is better under the condition of multi-constraint.

MULTITASK SCHEDULING IN NETWORKED CONTROL SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATION TO LARGE SCALE VEHICLE CONTROL

Aiming at scheduling problems of networked control system （NCS） used to fulfill motion synthesis and cooperation control of the distributed multi-mechatronic systems, the differences of network scheduling and task scheduling are compared, and the mathematic description of task scheduling is presented. A performance index function of task scheduling of NCS according to task balance and traffic load matching principles is defined. According to this index, a static scheduling method is designed and implemented to controlling task set simulation of the DCY100 transportation vehicle. The simulation results are applied successfully to practical engineering in this case so as to validate the effectiveness of the proposed performance index and scheduling algorithm.

A Heuristic Method for Vehicle Scheduling Problems

This paper presents a sequential optimum algorithm for vehicle schedulingproblem, which includes obtaining initial theoretical solution, adjustingsolution, forming initial routes and adjustins routes. This method can beapplied to general transportation problems with multiple depots and multiplevehicle types on complex network. In comparison with manual scheduling ofChengdu Transportation Company II, the result shows that this method isreasonable, feasible and applicable.

Optimized vehicle scheduling and filling model based on effective space and integrated solving algorithm

We established an integrated and optimized model of vehicle scheduling problem and vehicle filling problem for solving an extremely complex delivery mode-multi-type vehicles, non-full loads, pickup and delivery in logistics and delivery system. The integrated and optimized model is based on our previous research result-effective space method. An integrated algorithm suitable for the integrated and optimized model was proposed and corresponding computer programs were designed to solve practical problems. The results indicates the programs can work out optimized delivery routes and concrete loading projects. The model and algorithm have many virtues and are valuable in practice.

Application of Automated Guided Vehicles in Smart Automated Warehouse Systems:A Survey

Automated Guided Vehicles(AGVs)have been introduced into various applications,such as automated warehouse systems,flexible manufacturing systems,and container terminal systems.However,few publications have outlined problems in need of attention in AGV applications comprehensively.In this paper,several key issues and essential models are presented.First,the advantages and disadvantages of centralized and decentralized AGVs systems were compared;second,warehouse layout and operation optimization were introduced,including some omitted areas,such as AGVs fleet size and electrical energy management;third,AGVs scheduling algorithms in chessboardlike environments were analyzed;fourth,the classical route-planning algorithms for single AGV and multiple AGVs were presented,and some Artificial Intelligence(AI)-based decision-making algorithms were reviewed.Furthermore,a novel idea for accelerating route planning by combining Reinforcement Learning(RL)andDijkstra’s algorithm was presented,and a novel idea of the multi-AGV route-planning method of combining dynamic programming and Monte-Carlo tree search was proposed to reduce the energy cost of systems.

Autonomous UAV 3D trajectory optimization and transmission scheduling for sensor data collection on uneven terrains

This paper considers a time-constrained data collection problem from a network of ground sensors located on uneven terrain by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV),a typical Unmanned Aerial System(UAS).The ground sensors harvest renewable energy and are equipped with batteries and data buffers.The ground sensor model takes into account sensor data buffer and battery limitations.An asymptotically globally optimal method of joint UAV 3D trajectory optimization and data transmission schedule is developed.The developed method maximizes the amount of data transmitted to the UAV without losses and too long delays and minimizes the propulsion energy of the UAV.The developed algorithm of optimal trajectory optimization and transmission scheduling is based on dynamic programming.Computer simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Generation and Analysis of Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Transmission Shift Schedules with a Torque Split Algorithm

The increased concern over global climate change and lack of long-term sustainability of fossil fuels in the projected future has prompted further research into advanced alternative fuel vehicles to reduce vehicle emissions and fuel consumption. One of the primary advanced vehicle research areas involves electrification and hybridization of vehicles. As hybrid-electric vehicle technology has advanced, so has the need for more innovative control schemes for hybrid vehicles, including the development and optimization of hybrid powertrain transmission shift schedules. The hybrid shift schedule works in tandem with a cost function-based torque split algorithm that dynamically determines the optimal torque command for the electric motor and engine. The focus of this work is to develop and analyze the benefits and limitations of two different shift schedules for a position-3 (P3) parallel hybrid-electric vehicle. a traditional two-parameter shift schedule that operates as a function of vehicle accelerator position and vehicle speed (state of charge (SOC) independent shift schedule), and a three-parameter shift schedule that also adapts to fluctuations in the state of charge of the high voltage batteries (SOC dependent shift schedule). The shift schedules were generated using an exhaustive search coupled with a fitness function to evaluate all possible vehicle operating points. The generated shift schedules were then tested in the software-in-the-loop (SIL) environment and the vehicle-in-the-loop (VIL) environment and compared to each other, as well as to the stock 8L45 8-speed transmission shift schedule. The results show that both generated shift schedules improved upon the stock transmission shift schedule used in the hybrid powertrain comparing component efficiency, vehicle efficiency, engine fuel economy, and vehicle fuel economy.

Adaptive augmentation of gain-scheduled controller for aerospace vehicles

This paper proposes an adaptive augmentation control design approach of the gain-scheduled controller.This extension is motivated by the need for augmentation of the baseline gainscheduled controller.The proposed approach can be utilized to design flight control systems for advanced aerospace vehicles with a large parameter variation.The flight dynamics within the flight envelope is described by a switched nonlinear system,which is essentially a switched polytopic system with uncertainties.The flight control system consists of a baseline gain-scheduled controller and a model reference adaptive augmentation controller,while the latter can recover the nominal performance of the gainscheduled controlled system under large uncertainties.By the multiple Lyapunov functions method,it is proved that the switched nonlinear system is uniformly ultimately bounded.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach,this approach is applied to a generic hypersonic vehicle,and the simulation results show that the system output tracks the command signal well even when large uncertainties exist.

Study on shift schedule saving energy of automatic transmission of ground vehicles

To improve ground vehicle efficiency, shift schedule energy saving was proposed for the ground vehicle automatic transmission by studying the function of the torque converter and transmission in the vehicular drivetrain. The shift schedule can keep the torque converter working in the high efficiency range under all the working conditions except in the low efficiency range on the left when the transmission worked at the lowest shift, and in the low efficiency range on the right when the transmission worked at the highest shift. The shift quality key factors were analysed. The automatic trans-mission's bench-test adopting this shift schedule was made on the automatic transmission's test-bed. The experimental results showed that the shift schedule was correct and that the shift quality was controllable.