Automated topology creation for global path planning of large AGV fleets

In this paper we present a holistic concept of an automated topology creation and a decentralized global path planning approach for large robot fleets with the focus on logistic applications. Based on a map or a CAD file and the robot size an algorithm for calculating a roadmap graph with intermediate points will be presented. The algorithm is able to utilize as much of the available space as possible and can also guarantee that neither edges nor vertices overlap each other which may lead to collisions of the robots. To give an indicator of how performant the roadmap generation could be, an analysis of different topologies using several graph attributes is presented. Based on the created roadmap graph, a flexible and scalable decentralized routing concept is presented. For a better suitability in a logistics context, a time-based routing approach was chosen.