Deadlock and Collision Handling for Automated Rail-Based Storage and Retrieval Units

When planning logistics systems with multiple transport objects or systems, modeling requires the implementation of complex control logic to avoid collisions and deadlocks. This paper illustrates a procedure for the development of such control logic on the example of rail-based storage and retrieval units in combinations with lifts in the picking area of an industrial laundry. Typical collision situations and a possible solution approach for avoiding these are described. In addition, a discrete event simulation demonstrates which situations occur most frequently depending on warehouse dimensioning.