Modeling an AGV based facility logistics system to measure and visualize performance availability in a VR environment

Performance availability is an approach to rate the performance of material flow systems. Since the data necessary to determine the performance availability can only be obtained by observing the system in operation, planning towards a certain performance availability is a challenging task. In this paper, we present an approach to model an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) based logistics facility to ultimately measure and visualize the performance availability of the system within VR environments. We employed 3-D laser scans to create a visual representation of the facility and modelled the mechanical components using the simulation system´s kinematic mechanisms. An interface to the real system´s control architecture makes it possible to incorporate real world data and scenarios. Data not readily visible or not visible at all such as vehicle health, waiting times, and running times is surveyed and presented in a comprehensive VR environment for evaluating overall system performance and performance availability.