Tandem Configuration Automated Guided Vehicle Systems: A Comparative Study*
比较了三种自动导引车系统配置在16种实验条件下的性能，发现串联配置在利用率、平均流程时间等指标上与传统配置相当，且不牺牲控制简便性和系统灵活性。
Automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems provide the flexibility and integration required for flexible manufacturing systems. Previous AGV system studies have attempted to reduce the controlling complexities commonly encountered in these systems. However, this has not been accomplished without additional resources (e.g., automated guided vehicles) and lower system flexibility. The primary objective of this study is to compare the performance of AGV system configurations that reduce controlling and modification complexities (i.e., tandem configurations) to traditional AGV system configuration. Three AGV system configurations were tested under 16 experimental conditions. Performance metrics considered were AGV utilization, mean flowtime, mean tardiness, and percent tardy. The results of this study extend the findings of the previous studies in demonstrating the viability of tandem configurations, in that the tandem configurations match the performance of traditional configuration across all performance metrics, without sacrificing ease of control and system flexibility. Finally, the cost tradeoffs inherent in selecting a particular configuration are discussed.