| For part schedules in robotic cells with two and three machines, identical and different part types are discussed. The objective of this work is to find the optimal cycle time for such cells.; For identical parts, different sequences of robot moves generate different cycle time in robotic cells with two or three machines. To find the optimal cycle time, a simulation tool is used, which proves to be efficient for analyzing the effects of various parameters and the implications of various alternatives.; For different parts, both the sequences of part input and the sequences of robot moves result in different cycle time. To find a solution of such problems, which are characterized by a fixed path, a genetic algorithm is proposed. The algorithm employs natural chromosome representation. A point cut crossover operator is developed for the operation of chromosome crossover. A mutation operator is also designed to select two genes randomly in a chromosome and to exchange their positions. The optimal part sequence and cycle time are obtained through processing genetic evaluation and improving the solution performance. Examples are presented, which demonstrate that the genetic algorithm can solve the problems easily. |
