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shanice.c avatar image
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How to control Flexsim AGV using external AGV System program?

Hello, my company hope to realize digital twin through FlexSim. We would like to use FlexSim to validate real AGV Dispatching system before putting our system onto real AMHS. Usually we develop a simulation model in advance, then provide a rule or some suggestions to our team developing real system program, such as how to avoid abnormal condition used to happened in simulation. We have programs of AGV dispatching system, we have physical AGVs. Now my manager wants to know if it’s possible to use our real AGV system programs to directly control AGV in FlexSim. He says our real program could control Flexsim agv using API. I saw description from official website.

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Although it seems control flexsim looks achievable, while it seems our biggest issue come from real agv system data transformation? Such as packet transformation (transfer message to data that FlexSim could understand). Map, traffic points, the coordination of AGV, these information are important to developing a real AGV dispatch system program. Since real programs, AGV has to communicate with physical equipment or charge station using SECS/GEM to report agv’s current location, report status, report to MES…

Also, even we overcome all kinds of problem in data, we have SLAM AGV that doesn’t always travelling on fixed path, so in this case, does our traffic algorithm in our real system program still works in digital twin(since we use Flexsim object) ?

May I ask for some examples or previous questions from these forum that suit our need? Or steps we could follow? And what does my company need to prepare(in software and hardware) before starting develop this digital twin model? For example, a server, a proxy transfer Data packets into format FlexSim could use. We would like to measure if our ideal is available. Thank you!

FlexSim 22.1.0
contol flexsim externally
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Joerg Vogel avatar image Joerg Vogel commented ·
May I suggest, you contact your local distributor to discuss possible support for your project.
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shanice.c avatar image shanice.c Joerg Vogel commented ·

@Joerg Vogel Yes, I've also looked for our local distributor support.

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1 Answer

Kavika F avatar image
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Kavika F answered shanice.c commented

Hey @shanice.c, that's a great question. The answer is yes, you can! You can connect to FlexSim and communicate with a model externally through several different means, such as making your own DLL, using Python code, or even through the web API. Here are some of the links you can reference and read more about it:

Answers Pages:

Document pages:

Hope this helps!

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shanice.c avatar image shanice.c commented ·
@Kavika F Thank you for your information. I've try to integrate these information.
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Jason Lightfoot avatar image Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ shanice.c commented ·

Won't this depend on how the real system communicates? Some implementations use OPC-UA to communicate with the AMRs, so in that case you could use the emulation module to do the same and just replace the real ones with flexsim's.

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立洲 avatar image 立洲 commented ·

@Kavika F @shanice.c請問SECS的通訊源是否已經成功實現了?

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shanice.c avatar image shanice.c 立洲 commented ·

@立洲 finally we didn't carry out this project.

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