Layout optimization of manufacturing cells and allocation optimization of transport robots in reconfigurable manufacturing systems using particle swarm optimization

This paper proposes a 3D graphics simulation environment for the analysis and evaluation of reconfigurable manufacturing systems. The reconfigurable manufacturing systems consist of transport robots; input stations, output stations, movable manufacturing cells, and objects to process. The layout of the manufacturing cells and the allocation of transport robots are optimized using particle swarm optimization. The effectiveness of the simulator is validated through simulation results of several manufacturing cases.