Control Points are points on the AGV network where various decision logic happens.
A Control Point may be:
- A point where AGVs pick up and/or drop off flow items.
- A stopping point on the network where AGVs wait to enter an area or section of a path.
- A decision point on the network where the AGV looks for work to do.
- A decision point on the network where an AGV is dispatched to some other point on the network, dependent on network state/availability.
Control Point Allocation/Deallocation
Control Points act as allocation/deallocation points on the network. AGVs automatically look ahead to their next control point and must allocate that control point before proceeding on the network. A conceptual explanation of Control Point allocation/deallocation can be found in Tutorial Lesson 1.
Way Points
Control Points can be members of Way Points. A conceptual explanation of Way Points can be found in Tutorial Lesson 2.
Control Point Properties
Control Points do not have a traditional properties window. Instead, properties are defined through the Quick Properties window.
- Click on a Control Point in the model.
- Edit its properties in the Quick Properties Control Point panel on the right.
- Max Allocations The maximum number of AGVs that can simultaneously claim the Control Point.
- Deallocation Type The Control Point's assigned Deallocation Type. See the Deallocation Types topic for more information.
- Connections Here you can view, add, remove, and re-order Control Point Connections. See the Control Point Connections topic for more information.
Events
You can subscribe to the following Control Point events, usually by using a process flow Wait For Event or Event-Triggered Source activity.
- OnPreArrival Fired at an AGV's pre-arrival to the control point, i.e. the point at which the AGV would start to decelerate to stop at the control point if needed. OnPreArrival is fired prior the AGV allocating further ahead, or when the AGV starts decelerating to its final destination.
- OnArrival Fired at an AGV's arrival at the control point, i.e. when the AGV has decelerated to stop at the control point, either because it could not allocate further ahead or if the control point is the final destination.
- OnAllocated Fired when the Control Point is allocated by an AGV.
- OnDeallocated Fired when the Control Point is deallocated by an AGV.
- OnEntry Fired when an object (usually a flow item) is moved into the control point.
- OnExit Fired when an object (usually a flow item) is moved out of the control point.
Statistics
The control point can track the following statistics.
- AllocationCount The total number of AGVs who have allocated the control point. Usually this will either be 0 or 1, unless you set the control point's Max Allocations to be greater than 1.
