Congestion-aware dynamic routing in automated material handling systems

In automated material handling systems (AMHS), such as those used to transport wafers in semiconductor manufacturing facilities, vehicular congestion leads to transport delay and reduced production efficiency. Through the use of a high-fidelity simulation, we demonstrate a congestion-aware dynamic routing strategy that efficiently reroutes vehicles as congestion status changes. Steady-state routing performance moderately improves, the frequency of heavy congestion is significantly reduced, and the system recovers from vehicle breakdowns more efficiently. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.