Twin-crane cooperative scheduling in container terminals

Abstract

To increase the productivity of the storage yard of a container terminal, two identical Yard Cranes are deployed in a Yard Block. The two Yard Cranes are unable to cross each other and must maintain safety distance at all times. During Yard Crane operation, the Yard Cranes may block each other in their storage or retrieval operations. Thus, the Yard Crane will have to wait for the other Yard Crane to complete the current task. This will significantly lower the combined productivity of the two Yard Crane. In this report, an algorithm is proposed to effectively reduce the frequency the two Yard Cranes block each other and enhance cooperation between the two cranes . The algorithm is executed every time a Yard Crane is idle. It will search the job list for the next job. If the next job is distant from the Yard Crane’s current location, the algorithm will look for another job it can assist while moving to the current job location. The objective is to maximize the productivity of the two Yard Cranes.