Configuration Design and Optimization of Circular Automated Storage and Retrieval System (C-AS/RS)

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) are used as warehouses, specifically designed for material handling in advanced manufacturing systems and are broadly utilized in distribution centers as subsystem for production area. Previous research efforts on have focused on the design and optimization of rectangular AS/RS configurations, however, there is still a gap of research on the design and optimization of Circular AS/RS Configurations. The aim of the research is to analyze, optimize and propose a Circular AS/RS Configuration for automotive car parking. Recently AS/RS are implemented to the automotive factories due to inventory control, landscape utilization, cost and efficiency. The proposed configuration is based on a single aisle; single S/R (Storage/Retreival) machine. Randomly storage assignment policy is applied for the proposed system. The Cost and Travel time models are adapted from the previous research on AS/RS. A mixed integer multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to be optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA), which is a non-gradient, direct search metaheuristic optimization method, well suited for this class of problems. The design objectives are to minimize travel time, minimize carbon footprint, and minimize the total cost under the constraints for system height, diameter and storage capacity. The number of rows and columns, vertical, rotational and radial velocities of the S/R machine are taken as the decision variables. The results show that travel time, total cost, and the carbon footprint has been minimized up to 1.05%, 16.31% and 67% respectively. Keywords: Configuration, Design, Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems, Optimization, Travel Time, Total Cost, Carbon Footprint.