Multi-AGV scheduling in automated container terminal based on improved whale optimization algorithm

Due to increasingly serious environmental issues, there are growing concerns about the environmental impact of automated container terminals (ACTs). Therefore, the ACT needs to strike a balance between effectiveness and environmental sustainability. AGV scheduling is a vital issue that plays an important role in the efficiency improvement and energy conservation of ACTs. This study examines the AGV scheduling issue in ACTs while taking energy usage and AGV efficiency into account. First, a multi-objective mixed integer programming model with the goals of energy consumption and makespan is built. Then, an improved whale optimization algorithm (IWOA) is proposed to solve this problem, in which task combination and adaptive parameter adjustment strategies are presented to enhance the algorithm. Finally, case study examples are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.