Hybrid algorithm based scheduling optimization in robotic cell with dual-gripper

With the maturity of the industrial robotic technology, robotic cells are gradually regarded as a kind of stand equipment to replace human work in every walk of life. How to obtain the maximum or approximate maximum throughput in a robotic cell is always the highlighted goal, especially in the rapid growing 3C industry market. In this paper, the objective is to get a 1-unit cycle sequence of robot actions that approximately minimizes the cycle time to produce a part and maximizes the throughput by using a new hybrid algorithm in the robotic cell with a dual-gripper robot. In this algorithm, different constrains are considered during computing the cycle time, including free/non-free process, allowed time window. The resulting diagrams provide very intuitive insights into the accuracy of the hybrid algorithm compared with the exact algorithm. Additional 100 simulation results prove the effectiveness of the hybrid algorithm, with a solid performance to achieve the maximum productivity of robotic cell.