A new hybrid time-based / event-based simulation method for transport systems considering physical effects

Current concepts for the simulation of transport systems within industrial production plants can be divided into two non-overlapping categories. Time-based concepts simulate physics for few carriers whereas event-based concepts handle many carriers at high abstraction level. We present a new hybrid hierarchical time-based/event-based method to combine the benefits of both concepts. New methods allow for 3-D simulation including physical effects without having to model carriers´ masses. The simulation does not calculate forces and thus can be fast for more than a hundred carriers together with peripheral devices. We also describe some applications to prove the practical validity of the new methods.