Observations on Control of Automated Guided Vehicles

After reviewing briefly the characteristics of guided transport systems under the general headings of system requirements and system constraints, the effect on throughput of velocity profiling is examined. Quality of service in any transport system is related to frequency and journey time; it is shown that the effect of shaping velocity profiles can provide a marked improvement to both. The brake limited profile discussed is simple to implement, and effective, but should not be considered optimal.