An architectural design of control software for automated container terminals

Automation of handling equipment is a current trend in port container terminal. Because a large number of equipment of different types are involved in the handling operation, the structure of control software is highly complicated. This paper introduces an architectural design of control software and a simulation-based test-bed for testing various control rules of the control software. The suggested control system consists of a ship operation manager (SOM) and system controllers for automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and automated yard cranes (AYCs). A SOM is in charge of dispatching tasks to equipment for preplanned load/unload operations. System controllers assign equipment to the SOM and maintain the information about the location and the status of equipment. To test the control system and the operation methods of the suggested container terminal, an object-oriented simulation system was developed using Java. Using the simulation system, several operation-related issues were tested, including the postponement of dispatching decisions and the sequence rearrangement of AGVs entering transfer areas under quay cranes (QCs). (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.