• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.169-175
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• 2010

Recently, to improve operating efficiency with the higher in-line rate in automated production lines, a lot of cases of grouping machines and material handling system together to form a cluster has shown frequently. This article addresses the job allocation and operation method of automated material handling for cluster-type production systems. First of all, the control problems of the automated material handling systems are classified into the control problem of inter-cluster material handling system and that of intra-cluster material handling system. Then, a distributed agent-based control scheme is proposed for the former, and an operational control procedure for the latter. Simulation experiment shows that the proposed method is efficient in reducing cycle times and improving utilization of material handling vehicles.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.299-309
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• 2012

This paper introduces some of the developments related to the handling equipment in container terminals and various new conceptual handling systems that have been proposed during the last several decades. The basic ideas behind the previous equipment improvements are analyzed to identify future directions that can be used for devising new handling systems. The handling systems in the container terminals include a quayside handling system, transport system, and yard system. In response to the deployment of mega-sized vessels for container transportation systems, productivity improvement has become one of the most urgent issues in the container terminals. This paper analyzes the previous improvements made for achieving higher productivity in the three subsystems of container handling. Some conceptual handling systems are introduced including the linear motor conveyance system (LMCS), automated storage and retrieval systems (AR/RS), overhead grid rail (GRAIL), SPEEDPORT, SuperDock, the automated container system by ZPMC (ACS-ZPMC), and AUTOCON.

• IE interfaces
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.233-241
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• 2004

The main subject to become a hub port is automation. The automated container terminal has already operated in advanced ports and it has been planned for the basic planning and operation design in domestic case. The key of automated container terminal is effective operation of both ATC(automated transfer crane) and AGV(automated guided vehicle) which is automated handling equipments. This is essential to productivity of automated container terminal. This study suggests the most optimal method of equipment operation in order to minimize loading time using each three types of effective ATC operation methods and AGV dispatching rules in automated container terminals. As the automated equipment operation causes unexpected deadlocks or interferences, it should be proceeded on event-based real time. Therefore we propose the most effective ATC operation methods and AGV dispatching rules in this paper. The various states occurred in real automated container terminals are simulated to evaluate these methods. This experiment will show the most robust automated equipment operation method on various parameters(the degree of yard re-marshaling, the number of containers and AGV)

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.834-841
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• 2006

Recently, many enterprises are installing AMSs(Automated Manufacturing Systems) for their competitive advantages. As the level of automation increases, proper design and validation of control logic is a imperative task for the successful operation of AMSs. However, current discrete event simulation methods mainly focus on the performance evaluation. As a result, they lack the modeling capabilities for the detail logic of automated manufacturing system controller. Proposed in this paper is a method of validation of the controller logic for automated material handling system using an object-oriented design and simulation. Using this method, FA engineers can validate the controller logic easily in earlier stage of system design, so they can reduce the time for correcting the logic errors and enhance the productivity of control program development Generated simulation model can also be used as a communication tool among FA engineers who have different experiences and disciplines.

• IE interfaces
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.431-443
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• 2005

This paper describes a web-based system called DESIGNER for the analysis and design for automated material handling equipment(MHE) applications in manufacturing. DESIGNER models the processes for system integration, economic analysis, performance analysis, and automated storage/retrieval system(AS/RS) design. Based on the information specified by users, the various analysis modules are invoked to meet the needs of the material handling applications. The results of the analyses provide system users with useful data for material handling system design and decision on investment in automated MHE. Example problems are also presented to demonstrate the use of the system.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.131-141
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• 2012

The automated material handling systems today are playing ever more important roles in semiconductor/LCD fabrication facilities. Recently they became more flexible, intelligent, and speedy than in the past. The facilities have been fully automated because the size and weight of the unit loads used in the facilities were being increased beyond the limits that a human operator can handle. This research develops an efficient procedure to streamline the delivery of unit loads by the automated material handling system (AMHS). For this task, the research employs the event scheduling theory that has been successfully used in the both academia and industry. The developed procedure was applied to an actual LCD fabrication facility and improved the performance of an existing material handling system.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Simulation Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.23-28
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• 1997

We discuss development of a simulator for automated manufacturing systems (AMSs) which have sophisticated automated material handling equipments and complicated work flows. The simulator is designed to satisfy the following requirements. A user should be able to easily configure or specify an AMS through a graphical user interface (GUI) and minimal data input. The user should be able to model diverse and complied control logic for automated material handling systems like automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems, robot workcell systems and conveyor systems as well as complicated job flow program. Real time animation is desired. Finally, the simulator should be easily maintained and extended. To satisfy the requirements, we use an object-oriented paradigm for modeling, designing, and programming of the simulator. We use an object-oriented modeling framework to design the modeling elements library, and take the process interaction approach for scheduling processes and events. To model a user-defined diverse control logic, we also develop a script language and its interpreter. We explain design and implementation strategies. We implement the simulator using Visual C++ 4.2 and Open GL on Windows NT and the Windows95. Some modeling examples will be demonstrated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.51-58
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• 1998

This study is to define the Automated Container Terminal(ACT) and container terminal system. Also, we analyze the present condition of the container terminal system in Pusan port and its automation level by systems approach. And this paper aims at evaluating on the priority of R&D investment until the beginning of the second stage of New Pusan Port Project(2006). In this process we have considered 8 factors (cost, labor, area, time volume, reliability, safety, convenience) to analyze 6 subsystems. The priority order of R&D until target year by sub-systems is as follow : Cargo Handling System〉Transfer System〉Port Entry System〉Storage System(Distribution&Manufacturing System included)〉Inland Transport System〉Port Information System.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.71-82
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• 2001

Considering material handling delay which occurs between storage and processing stations, we propose an algorithm to estimate the required storage capacity, i.e., number of aisles and number of openings in vertical and horizontal directions in each aisle, of an automated storage/retrieval(AS/R) system. Due to the random nature of storage and retrieval requests, proportion of single and dual commands is not known in advance. Two design criteria, maximum permissible overflow probability and maximum allowable storage/retrieval(S/R) machine utilization, are used to compute the storage capacity. Most of studies assume that storage capacity of AS/R systems is given, although it is a very important decision variable in the design phase. Therefore, the proposed model can be effectively used in the design phase of new AS/R systems.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.40-48
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• 2022

An automated material handling system (AMHS) has been emerging as an important factor in the semiconductor wafer manufacturing industry. In general, an automated guided vehicle (AGV) in the Fab's AMHS travels hundreds of miles on guided paths to transport a lot through hundreds of operations. The AMHS aims to transfer wafers while ensuring a short delivery time and high operational reliability. Many linear and analytic approaches have evaluated and improved the performance of the AMHS under a deterministic environment. However, the analytic approaches cannot consider a non-linear, non-convex, and black-box performance measurement of the AMHS owing to the AMHS's complexity and uncertainty. Unexpected vehicle congestion increases the delivery time and deteriorates the Fab's production efficiency. In this study, we propose a Q-Learning based dynamic routing algorithm considering vehicle congestion to reduce the delivery time. The proposed algorithm captures time-variant vehicle traffic and decreases vehicle congestion. Through simulation experiments, we confirm that the proposed algorithm finds an efficient path for the vehicles compared to benchmark algorithms with a reduced mean and decreased standard deviation of the delivery time in the Fab's AMHS.