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The thesis that follows is performed in collaboration with Nitator in Oskarström.The factory in Oskarström focuses on laser cutting, robotic welding and surfacetreatment of steel for the automotive industry. The project aims to streamline the flow of materials in production by automatingthe movements of the forklifts, running to and from the interlayer, and betweenworkstations. The project started with a systematic literature search. The literature searchshowed the research position around the AGV-system. Also a review of studentliterature was made, so that a suitable method for practical implementation couldbe developed and applied. Selected method uses both quantitative and qualitativeapproaches, which is analyzed by using triangulation. The work has resulted in a modified layout of the current facility in Oskarströmthat can be used for the implementation of the AGV-system. It has also resulted inthe tender documents and profitability calculation from several of AGV-suppliers.

Abstract Course: Thesis in logistics for the MBA program, 4FE19E, VT18 Authors: Niklas Carlsson and Filip Norberg Supervisor: Hana Hulthén Examiner: Helena Forslund Title: Automated Guided Vehicles – A preliminary study on the central warehouse of Rusta AB. Background: Automated guided vehicles (AGV) is a driverless truck, programmed to automatically transport goods from point A to point B without human interaction. Rusta AB is in the middle of an expansion of its central warehouse, the warehouse today is 64000 m2 and when the development is completed it will be around 100000 m2. This will mean longer distances for Rusta’s truck drivers to transport pallets. Therefore, Rusta got interested in investigating automated guided vehicles, in which truck flows there are opportunities to implement them and if they can lead to a cost reduction and increased productivity. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to create a decision-making model that is based on the implementation of an AGV system as a complement to a traditional truck fleet, for companies to use. To determine in which flows in Rusta’s central warehouse that are best suited for an implementation and also what type of AGV that fits best within each flow. In order to be able to answer these questions, it is required that the decisionmaking model presented is carried out. The study is a preliminary study and should be used as part of the decision-making basis when Rusta make the decision to use a AGV system or not. Method: The study is a single case study where the authors have mainly used a qualitative method through the study. However, in the final chapter of the study, a quantitative method is used. The study contains both primary and secondary data. The empirical data has been collected through interviews, observations and measurements. The questions have been analysed on the basis of grounded theory, however, not all parts of the grounded theory are used as it does not fit the research design on which the study is based. v Conclusions: A decision-making model for the strategic decision to implement AGV contains crucial and influential qualitative and quantitative factors that a company should take into account before making a decision. Five possible flows were identified where there were conditions that suited the use of AGV and it was also determined that a low-lift AGV forklift with laser navigation should be used. The flows stood up to the demands that were made both on the basis of the decision-making model that was created and also to the specific needs of each flow. Thereafter the quantitative part of the decision-making model was based on the qualitative analyses. Here it became clear that by implementing AGV in the best suited flows, Rusta could get a significantly lower cost without getting lower capacity. Rusta was therefore recommended to implement AGV in three of the five possible flows. The recommended AGV type is a low-lift AGV like the Toyota Material handling LAE250 or Jungheinrich ERE-AGV. This would reduce costs by around 600,000 SEK per year compared to the conventional trucks used today. The large cost reduction is mostly due to the lower costs for the staff. Through this, Rusta achieves the objective of the investment, to lower costs of their operations in its central warehouse. Keywords: Automated guided vehicles, distribution warehouse, flow chart, decisionmaking model

Automated Guided Vehicles hav gained much attention in the industry especially with relevance to container handling at the seaports.

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) Container-Job deployment is essentially a vehicle-dispatching problem. In this problem, the impact of vehicle dispatching polices on the ship makespan for discharging and/or loading operations is analyzed. In particular, given a storage location for each container to be discharged from the ship and given the current location of each container to be loaded onto the ship, the problem is to propose an efficient deployment scheme to dispatch vehicles to containers so as to minimize the makespan of the ship so as to increase the throughput. The makespan of the ship refers to the time a ship spends at the port for loading and unloading operations. In this paper, we will compare the performance of current deployment scheme used with the new proposed deployment scheme, both with deadlock prediction & avoidance algorithm done in previous study [1]. The prediction & avoidance algorithm predicts and avoids cyclic deadlock. The current deployment scheme, namely pmds makes use of a greedy heuristics which dispatches the available vehicle that will reach the quay with the minimum amount of time the vehicle has to spend waiting for the crane to discharge/load the container from/onto the ship. The new deployment scheme, namely mcf aims to formulate the problem as a minimum cost flow problem, which will then be solved by network simplex code. The two simulation models are implemented using discrete-event simulation software, AutoMod, and the performances of both deployment schemes are analyzed. The simulation results show that the new deployment scheme will result in a higher throughput and lower ship makespan than the current deployment scheme. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

This is a case study made in collaboration with Proton Finishing AB to investigate the usage of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) in a surface treatment company. AGVs is a self-driving unit used for material transport in workplaces and logistics settings. In this study, the following research questions have been explored: ● What are the benefits of using AGVs trucks in a surface treatment company? ● What are the disadvantages of using AGVs in a surface treatment company? ● How can 5G impact the use of AGVs in the warehouse of a surface treatment company compared to AGVs with a traditional solution? ● Which model of AGV meets the requirements for warehouse management at Proton Finishing AB compared to other models? The theory was collected from relevant literature collected by the researchers at the library of Linnéuniversitetet and papers on scientific research. The empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews with different suppliers of AGVs, a Cyber Security consultant, a Project Manager specialized in Private Networks and employees from Proton Finishing AB. There were several findings discovered with AGVs in a surface treatment company. Benefits and disadvantages were identified. The researchers discovered what model of AGV was most suitable for Proton Finishing AB’s warehouse. With help from the collected theory and empirical data, the researchers were able to suggest the most suitable AGV and propose how the implementation of AGVs can be done with 5G.

The Data Distribution Service (DDS) is a flexible, decentralized, peer-to-peer communication middle-ware. This thesis presents a performance analysis of the DDS usage in the Toyota Smartness platform that is used in Toyota’s Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs). The purpose is to find if DDS is suitable for internal communication between modules that reside within the Smartness platform and for external communication between AGVs that are connected in the same network. An introduction to the main concepts of DDS and the Toyota Smartness platform architecture is given together with a presentation of some earlier research that has been done in DDS. A number of different approaches of how DDS can be integrated to the Smartness platform are explored and a set of different configurations that DDS provides are evaluated. The tests that were performed in order to evaluate the usage of DDS are described in detail and the results that were collected are presented, compared and discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of using DDS are listed, and some ideas for future work are proposed.

Studien syftade till att utreda potentialen av att införa en AGV-lösning vid inleverans av artiklar. Dessa AGV:er transporterar gods till ankommen artikels lagergång så att en manuell truck sedan kan lagerlägga godset på korrekt lagerplats. Skillnaden i genomloppstid mellan nuläget och en AGV-lösning studerades för att se om en automatiserad inleverans bidrog till en minskad genomloppstid från att artikeln var färdigbehandlad på inleveransytan tills att den låg på lagerplats. Det första experimentet var att göra en förändring i resurser där manuella resurser byttes ut mot AGV:er. Det andra experimentet var att ändra antalet tillgängliga AGV:er på lagret, där dessa varierade mellan en och fem. Det sista experimentet var att öka inleveransflödet av pallar till PN Herstadberg med 20 procent. Resultaten av de två första experimenten visade att genomloppstiden minskade från när en artikel var färdigbehandlad på inleveransen tills den låg på lagerplats när tre eller fler AGV:er användes. Resultatet för det sista experimentet visade att genomloppstiden ökade både för manuella resurser och AGV:er när fler artiklar ankom till lagret. Dock stod samma resultat kvar som tidigare, att tre eller fler AGV:er minskar genomloppstiden i jämförelse med manuella resurser. Resultatet för studien var att genomsnittstiden i nuläget för skjutstativsgods var 98,83 minuter och 222,23 minuter för V12-gods. När tre AGV:er används minskar dessa genomsnittstider till 67,87 minuter för skjutstativsgods samt till 127,04 minuter för V12-gods. Ytterligare minskning sker vid användande av fyra och fem AGV:er men denna minskning är betydligt mindre. Efter att potentialen av en AGV-lösning utretts är slutsatsen att AGV:er kan minska genomloppstiden. Antalet AGV:er som implementeras avgör om automatiseringen förbättrar genomloppstiden i jämförelse med manuella resurser. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

Logistics 4.0 describes the profound paradigm shift driven by digital transformation that poses new challenges for the logistics industry. Working conditions change significantly as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) take over material handling tasks. However, Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) between AGVs and their users, and the requirements for the design of AGV user interfaces considering the challenges of Logistics 4.0 have not yet been researched in depth. This qualitative study in collaboration with the intralogistics company FlexQube explores the perceived usability of AGV user interfaces for their users, derives usability criteria and investigates how usability affects the HMI. Research subject is the company's own AGV line. The six exploratory user interviews conducted with both customers and internal employees show the relevance of Nielsen's usability heuristics and identify overlaps with existing propositions for Human-Robot Interaction. The findings also highlight the impact of user demographics on the perceived usability and on the use of the automated features of the AGV. Also, the impact of the challenges of Logistics 4.0 is discussed. Thus, the study proposes that these four main aspects should be considered in the design of AGV user interfaces and suggests further research on the influence of usability on technology acceptance of automation.