An MPC scheme for routing problem in baggage handling systems: A linear programming approach

This paper considers the routing problem of DCVs in state-of-the-art baggage handling systems. In previous work, this problem was considered within the framework of model predictive control, where the optimization problem was recast as a mixed integer linear programming problem. We make two significant improvements with respect to this previous work. We show that by choosing an alternative model, the optimization problem can be recast as a linear programming problem, which has significant computational advantages. Furthermore, we use a new cost function that reflects the control objectives in a better way. This leads to a computationally efficient routing controller.