Designing and Implementing Operational Controllers for a Robotic Tote Consolidation Cell Simulation

Operational control is a key driver of production system performance, yet the design of operational controllers is not well-covered in the production systems simulation literature. With a robotic cell consolidating totes for delivery in a logistics hub as the use case, we describe the design of the cell's operational controller and an implementation approach used in an AnyLogic™ hybrid agent-discrete event simulation. Research motivation is discussed. Design principles are clearly explained, and key aspects of implementation for AnyLogic™ are presented. A companion Emulate3D™ model is described for obtaining realistic estimates of operation cycle times. Implications for the engineering of operational controllers in digital twins are addressed.