Load / Unloading of processor with different cranes

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Thoams G asked Mar 20, '18 Cliff King answered Mar 21, '18

Load / Unloading of processor with different cranes

Hello dear FlexSim community!

I am trying to design a plant which uses only cranes for loading/unloading processors. But after trying for days I was not able to find a solution where the cranes would not collide. I searched the web for hints how to handle collisions, but i was not able to find something useful. I read something about creating areas which would then be blocked for one crane as long as the other is there, but sadly the post was really old and I did not get something useful out of it. I also read something about collision spheres but i tried it, but apparently there is much programming involved for getting the right behavior with crane collisions...

Does someone has a more simpler solution or a hint how to handle this problem?

I have attached the flexsim file with the cranes, the red crane would be responsible for loading the processors, and the blue ones for unloading them.

colliding-cranes.fsm

Software Version:

FlexSim 16.1.2

collision crane movement cranes collision problem

colliding-cranes.fsm (43.7 KiB)

Answer 1 · 2018-03-21T17:49:49Z

Cliff King answered Mar 21, '18

It sounds like maybe you were trying to implement the ideas in this post from our old community forum, is that right?

https://www.flexsim.com/community/forum/showthread.php?t=581

In my opinion, the ideas expressed in the following post would be easier to implement:

https://answers.flexsim.com/questions/33313/limiting-one-crane-in-operation-at-a-time.html

Another thought would be to create a token in process flow representing each crane and then use the Zone activity to limit the number of cranes operating in a given area. Invetibly the logic to control which crane should do what and when will quickly become complex as you try to imitate the behavior used in real life regardless of which approach you use, so your best bet is to use the process flow activities to define the logic.

If you're willing to upgrade to the latest version of the software, I might be able to provide you with an example.

p.s. here's another example of two cranes staying out of each other's way using the crane's collision detection capability that was built in version 16.1 that you might find helpful in better understanding the colission detection features. https://answers.flexsim.com/questions/25100/cranes-overlapping.html

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