Multiple Shuttle ASRS Systems with Acceleration/Deceleration

Considerations

Gail W. DePuy, Ph.D., P.E.

Professor
CICMHE Member
Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky 40292
depuy@louisville.edu

ABSTRACT
This paper provides a summary of the cycle time calculations included in the ExASRS v2.0
software tool. ExASRS v2.0 determines the design of a unit load ASRS, in terms of number of
aisles and rack dimensions, based on user defined parameters such as desired throughput and
total storage capacity. These cycle time calculations allow for multiple shuttles and consider
acceleration/deceleration.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
ExASRS v2.0 is an Excel-based software tool which determines the design of a unit load ASRS
(i.e. number of aisles and rack dimensions) based on the following user defined parameters:
 Number of shuttles (1, 2, or 3)
 Number of storage requests per hour
 Number of retrieval requests per hour
 Maximum storage volume (unit loads)
 Storage location (cell) height including rack structure and clearances (feet)
 Storage location (cell) width including rack structure and clearances (feet)
 S/R machine horizontal velocity (ft/min)
 S/R machine vertical velocity (ft/min)
 S/R machine horizontal acceleration/deceleration (ft/sec2)
 S/R machine vertical acceleration/deceleration (ft/sec2)
 Pickup time (seconds)
 Deposit time (seconds)
 Percentage of dual command (DC) operations (%)
 Maximum allowable S/R machine utilization (%)
 Rack shape (square-in-time vs. fixed height racks)
 Rack type (single vs. double deep racks)

The ExASRS v2.0 determines the minimum number of aisles and rack dimensions that can
accommodate the user defined storage capacity (i.e. maximum storage volume) and the
throughput requirements (i.e. number of storage and retrieval requests per hour). In addition to

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the basic ASRS design specifications, the ExASRS v2.0 tool also calculates and reports the
following operational characteristics of the ASRS:
 Average time per request (in sec) for the determined rack design using the FCFS
storage/retrieval policy
 Average throughput (in requests per hour) for the determined rack design. This value
includes allowances for allowable utilization.
 Average time per request (in sec) for several different multiple shuttle storage/retrieval
policies. These S/R policies are discussed in detail in Meller and Mungwattana [2] and
summarized in section 4.0 of this paper.
o FCFS
o Modified FCFS
o Nearest Neighbor (NN)
o Modified NN
 Various cycle time values for single and multiple shuttle ASRS

This paper is organized as follows. First a general explanation of the design algorithm is
provided in section 2.0. Then the cycle time calculations for a single shuttle machine are
detailed in section 3.0. Finally, the multiple shuttle cycle time calculations are provided in
section 4.0. It should be noted that an ExASRS v2.0 User’s Manual is available which
documents the operation of the ExASRS v2.0 software tool while this paper details the cycle
time calculations within the tool.

2.0 ExASRS v2.0 DESIGN ALGORITHM

As stated earlier, ExASRS v2.0 determines the minimum number of aisles and rack dimensions
for a unit load ASRS which meets the users’ specifications in terms of maximum storage
capacity and throughput requirements (number of storage/retrieval request per hour). ExASRS
v2.0 iteratively increases the number of aisles, which defines the rack dimensions for a given
total storage capacity and rack shape (square-in-time or fixed height), until the throughput
requirement can be accommodated. The general structure of the design algorithm is shown
below where VELh and VELv are the horizontal and vertical velocity (in locations per time) of
the shuttle, respectively.

Step 1. # aisles = 1

Step 2. determine the rack size (# rows and # columns) to meet the maximum storage
capacity requirement defined by the user:

max storage capacity

# locations per rack face =
2(# aisles)

IF fixed height rack THEN

# rows = fixed height in rows
# columns = (# locations per rack face) / (# rows)
ELSE IF square-in-time rack THEN

2
 (# locations per rack face) 
VEL v
# rows =
VEL 
 h

# columns = (# rows)
 VEL h 
 VEL v 
END IF

Step 3. Determine Average Time per Request FCFS for Step 2 rack dimensions (see
sections 3.0 and 4.0 for details)

Step 4. IF Average Time per Request FCFS > cycle time requirement defined by the users
THEN # aisles = # aisles +1 and return to Step 2
ELSE Stop

3.0 CYCLE TIME CALCULATIONS FOR A SINGLE SHUTTLE ASRS

This section details the ExASRS v2.0 cycle time calculations for a single shuttle ASRS. These
calculations are a combination of the single shuttle ASRS work done by Bozer and White [1]
which assumes instantaneous acceleration/deceleration and the acceleration/deceleration
considerations of Chang, Wen, and Lin [2]. The general procedure is to calculate an
acceleration/deceleration constant as the difference between the travel times with instantaneous
acceleration/deceleration from [1] and the travel times with acceleration/deceleration
considerations from [2].

3.1 Single Shuttle ASRS with Instantaneous Acceleration/Deceleration

First the instantaneous acceleration/deceleration (accel/decel) cycle time calculations from [1]
are shown here.

1. Compute the dimensions of the rack in time: th = L/vh and tv = H/vv. Where L and H
are the length and height of the rack face, respectively, and vh and vv are the constant
horizontal and vertical velocities of the ASRS shuttle.

2. Let T be the scaling factor and b be the shape factor of the rack where T = max(t h, tv)
and b = min(th/T, tv/T)

3. Compute the normalized travel times with instantaneous accel/decel for a single
command (SC), travel between (TB) locations, and dual command (DC):

ESC = 1 + b2/3
ETB = 1/3 + b2/6 – b3/30
EDC = 4/3 + b2/2 – b3/30

Note: EDC = ESC + ETB since a dual command is a single command (travel from the
station to a storage location and back to the station) with a travel between locations
added.

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3.2 Single Shuttle ASRS with Acceleration/Deceleration

Next the procedure from [2] for calculating the normalized travel times with
acceleration/deceleration is shown here. The method from [2] is adapted slightly here to use the
theoretical time to travel half the length and height of the rack face rather than using the actual
travel times as discussed in [2].

1. Calculate the time to travel half the rack length, t x, including accel/decel where ah is
the horizontal accel/decel rate (from [4]):

L v L v 2h
tx   h for 
2v h a h 2 ah

4L L v 2h
tx  for 
2a h 2 ah

2. Calculate the time to travel half the rack height, t y, including accel/decal where av is
the vertical accel/decel rate (from [4]):

H v H v 2v
ty   v for 
2v v av 2 av

4H H v 2v
ty  for 
2a v 2 av

3. Compute the normalized travel times including accel/decel for a single command
(SC) and a travel between (TB) storage/retrieval locations (from [2]):

1  1 1   1
ESC’ = 2  2  b 1

1  1  1  1 1   2  1 

 2 1   2 4 2 
ETB’ = 1    + b 1 1    
 1  1 21  1   1  1 1  2  1 1  22  1 
 2 1 1 
 b 2 1 1    
 21   2  1 21  22  1 21  1 

where λ1 = 1/β1 and λ2 = 1/β2

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 and where:

ln t x  ln t h ln t y  ln t v
β1  and β 2  for t h  t v
ln 0.5 ln 0.5

ln t y  ln t v ln t x  ln t h
β1  and β 2  for t h  t v
ln 0.5 ln 0.5

4. Compute the normalized accel/decel constants for a single command, ECsc, and a
travel between, ECtb, storage/retrieval locations:

ECsc = ESC’ - ESC

ECtb = ETB’ - ETB

Now the travel time calculations from [1] can be combined with the accel/decel constants
estimated using [2] to find the travel times for a single and dual command, TSC and TDC,
respectively.

TSC = T(ESC + ECsc) + p + d

TDC = T(EDC + ECsc + ECtb) + 2p + 2d
where p is the time to pickup a unit load and d is the time to deposit a unit load.

By multiplying the scaling factor, T, by the normalized travel times in the above calculations, an
estimate of the average travel time for an L x H rack face is obtained.

As discussed in Bozer and White [1], a single shuttle ASRS can perform either a single
command (a storage or a retrieval) or a dual command (a storage and retrieval). The percentage
of dual command cycles, %dual, is a user defined parameter. The average cycle time is therefore
a weighted average of the single command and dual command cycle times. For a single shuttle
machine, it is assumed the First Come, First Served storage/retrieval policy is used; that is
requests are processed in the order in which they are received.

Average Time per Request FCFS = (100 - %dual)TSC + (%dual)(TDC / 2)

It is the above Average Time per Request FCFS that is used within ExASRS v2.0 to determine if
the current single shuttle ASRS design meets the user’s throughput requirement.

4.0 CYCLE TIME CALCULATIONS FOR A MULTIPLE SHUTTLE ASRS

As detailed in Meller and Mungwattana [3], there are several different storage/retrieval policies
which can be used when the ASRS has multiple shuttles. Specifically, travel times for the
following 4 storage/retrievals policies are included in the ExASRS v2.0 software tool:

 First Come, First Served (FCFS)

 Modified FCFS
 Nearest Neighbor (NN)
 Modified NN

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The FCFS policy processes the storage/retrieval requests in the order they are received (i.e., a
first come, first served basis). The figure below shows each storage/retrieval policy. The
modified FCFS (MFCFS) policy performs a storage at the same location as a retrieval thereby
eliminating some travel between locations. For example, a 2 shuttle ASRS could store units s 1
and s2 and retrieve units r1 and r2 in the following manner. The ASRS travels to location 1 in
which it stores unit s1, then it travels to location 2 where it retrieves unit r 1 and then stores unit s2
in the same location, the ASRS then travels to location 3 where it retrieves unit r 2. In this way
one travel leg was eliminated as unit r1 was retrieved from the same location in which unit s 2 was
stored. Similarly this modified storage/retrieval policy can eliminate two travel between location
legs from a fully loaded 3 shuttle ASRS. The NN policy selects the next retrieval such that it
minimizes the distance from the current storage location (as opposed to FCFS which processes
first the storages and then the retrievals in the order in which the requests were received). The
modified NN policy (MNN) performs a storage at the same location as a retrieval thereby
eliminating some travel between locations.

s2
s2
s1
s1
r2
r1
r1
r2

I/0
I/0
FCFS Nearest Neighbor

s1 s1
r1 &
r1 & s2 r2
s2
r2

I/0 I/0
Modified FCFS Modified NN

It should be noted that the most conservative of these storage/retrieval policies, FCFS, is the
method used to design the ASRS (i.e. the FCFS cycle time is compared to the user’s throughput
requirement when designing the ASRS as discussed in section 2.0).

4.1 FCFS Storage/Retrieval Policy for Multiple Shuttle ASRS

The FCFS policy processes the storage/retrieval requests in the order they are received (i.e., a
first come, first served basis). The calculations are similar to those presented in section 3.0 for
the single shuttle ASRS. However, an ASRS with 2 or 3 shuttles, can perform 2 or 3 commands,
respectively, when in single command mode, or 4 or 6 commands, respectively, when in dual
command mode. Therefore it is necessary to determine the dual (TDC) and quadruple (TQC)
command travel times for a 2 shuttle ASRS and the triple (TTC) and sextuple (TXC) command
travel times for a 3 shuttle ASRS. The following equations are modified from [3] to include the
acceleration/deceleration constants, ECsc and ECtb.

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 For a 2 shuttle ASRS:
TDC = T(EDC + ECsc + ECtb) + 2p + 2d
TQC = T(EQC + ECsc +3ECtb) + 4p + 4d
where EQC = ESC + 3ETB

For a 3 shuttle ASRS:

TTC = T(ETC + ECsc + 2ECtb) + 3p + 3d
where ETC = ESC + 2ETB
TXC = T(EXC + ECsc +5ECtb) + 6p + 6d
where EXC = ESC + 5ETB

It is assumed here that %dual indicates the percentage of time all shuttles are performing dual
commands and the remainder of the time (i.e., 100-%dual) all shuttles are performing single
commands. Therefore the average times per request for 2 and 3 shuttle ASRS using the FCFS
policy are as follows:

For a 2 shuttle ASRS:

Average Time per Request FCFS = (100 - %dual)(TDC / 2) +
(%dual)(TQC / 4)
For a 3 shuttle ASRS:
Average Time per Request FCFS = (100 - %dual)(TTC / 3) +
(%dual)(TXC / 6)

It is the above Average Time per Request FCFS values that are used within ExASRS v2.0 to
determine if the current multiple shuttle ASRS design meets the user’s throughput requirement.

4.2 Modified FCFS Storage/Retrieval Policy for Multiple Shuttle ASRS

The modified FCFS policy performs a storage at the same location as a retrieval thereby
eliminating some travel between locations. For example, a 2 shuttle ASRS could store units s 1
and s2 and retrieve units r1 and r2 in the following manner. The ASRS travels to location 1 in
which it stores unit s1, then it travels to location 2 where it retrieves unit r 1 and then stores unit s2
in the same location, the ASRS then travels to location 3 where it retrieves unit r 2. In this way
one travel leg was eliminated as unit r1 was retrieved from the same location in which unit s 2 was
stored. Similarly this modified storage/retrieval policy can eliminate two travel between location
legs from a fully loaded 3 shuttle ASRS. It is now necessary to determine the modified
quadruple (TMQC) command travel time for a 2 shuttle ASRS and the modified sextuple
(TMXC) command travel time for a 3 shuttle ASRS. The following equations are modified from
[3] to include the acceleration/deceleration constants, ECsc and ECtb.

For a 2 shuttle ASRS:

TMQC = T(EMQC + ECsc +2ECtb) + 4p + 4d
where EMQC = ESC + 2ETB

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 For a 3 shuttle ASRS:
TMXC = T(EMXC + ECsc +3ECtb) + 6p + 6d
where EMXC = ESC + 3ETB

Therefore the average times per request for 2 and 3 shuttle ASRS using the Modified FCFS
(MFCFS) policy are as follows:

For a 2 shuttle ASRS:

Average Time per Request MFCFS = (100 - %dual)(TDC / 2) +
(%dual)(TMQC / 4)
For a 3 shuttle ASRS:
Average Time per Request MFCFS = (100 - %dual)(TTC / 3) +
(%dual)(TMXC / 6)

The Average Time per Request MFCFS values are reported in the detailed results section of the
ExASRS v2.0 output report.

4.3 Nearest Neighbor Storage/Retrieval Policy for Multiple Shuttle ASRS

The ExASRS v2.0 software tool also reports the average time per request using the Nearest
Neighbor (NN) storage/retrieval policy as detailed in Meller and Mungwattana [3]. The NN
policy selects the next retrieval such that it minimizes the distance from the current storage
location (as opposed to FCFS which processes first the storages and then the retrievals in the
order in which the requests were received). It is now necessary to determine the NN dual
(TDCNN) and NN quadruple (TQCNN) command travel times for a 2 shuttle ASRS and the NN
triple (TTCNN) and NN sextuple (TXCNN) command travel times for a 3 shuttle ASRS. Note: for
single commands using the Nearest Neighbor (NN) operational policy, the travel time estimates
depend on whether storages or retrievals are performed during the cycle (see [3]). In the NN
calculation below, it is assumed half the single command cycles are all shuttles doing storages
and half the single command cycles are all shuttles doing retrievals. The following equations are
modified from [3] to include the acceleration/deceleration constants, ECsc and ECtb.

For a 2 shuttle ASRS:

TDCNN = T(EDCNN + ECsc + ECtb) + 2p + 2d
where EDCNN = 0.5[ESWm + ETBm-1 + ESAq] + 0.5[ESC + ETB]
where m = # unoccupied rack locations
where ESWm = expected smallest one-way travel time from the
I/O station to one of the m open locations. See eq. (16)
from [3].
where ETBm-1 = expected smallest travel-bewteen time amongt a
point and m-1 open locations. See eq. (24) from [3].
where ESAq = expected smallest travel time between the last
storage location and the I/O station for a 2 shuttle ASRS.
See eq. (35) from [3].

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 TQCNN = T(EQCNN + ECsc +3ECtb) + 4p + 4d
where EQCNN = ESWm + ETBm-1 + ETB2 + ETB + ESAq
where ETB2 = expected smallest travel-between time between a
point and the closest retreival. See eq. (24) from [3].

For a 3 shuttle ASRS:

TTCNN = T(ETCNN + ECsc + 2ECtb) + 3p + 3d
where ETCNN=0.5[ESWm+ETBm-1+ETBm-2+ESAs]+0.5[ESC + 2ETB]
where ETBm-2 = expected smallest travel-bewteen time amongt a
point and m-2 open locations. See eq. (24) from [3].
where ESAs = expected smallest travel time between the last
storage location and the I/O station for a 3 shuttle ASRS.
See eq. (27) from [3].

TXCNN = T(EXCNN + ECsc +5 ECtb) + 6p + 6d

where EXCNN = ESWm+ETBm-1+ETBm-2+ETB3+ETB2+ETB+ ESAs

The average times per request for 2 and 3 shuttle ASRS using the NN policy are as follows:

For a 2 shuttle ASRS:

Average Time per Request NN = (100 - %dual)(TDCNN / 2) +
(%dual)(TQCNN / 4)
For a 3 shuttle ASRS:
Average Time per Request NN = (100 - %dual)(TTCNN / 3) +
(%dual)(TXCNN / 6)

The Average Time per Request NN values are reported in the detailed results section of the
ExASRS v2.0 output report.

4.4 Modified NN Storage/Retrieval Policy for Multiple Shuttle ASRS

The modified NN policy (MNN) performs a storage at the same location as a retrieval thereby
eliminating some travel between locations. It is now necessary to determine the modified NN
quadruple (TQCMNN) command travel time for a 2 shuttle ASRS and the modified NN sextuple
(TXCMNN) command travel time for a 3 shuttle ASRS.

For a 2 shuttle ASRS:

TQCMNN = T(EQCMNN + ECsc +2ECtb) + 4p + 4d
where EQCMNN = ESWm + ETB2 + ETB + ESAq

For a 3 shuttle ASRS:

TXCMNN = T(EXCMNN + ECsc +3ECtb) + 6p + 6d
where EXCMNN = ESWm + ETB3 + ETB2 + ETB + ESAs

Therefore the average times per request for 2 and 3 shuttle ASRS using the Modified Nearest
Neighbor (MNN) policy are as follows:

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 For a 2 shuttle ASRS:
Average Time per Request MNN = (100 - %dual)(TDCNN / 2) +
(%dual)(TQCMNN / 4)
For a 3 shuttle ASRS:
Average Time per Request MNN = (100 - %dual)(TTCNN / 3) +
(%dual)(TXCMNN / 6)

The Average Time per Request MNN values are reported in the detailed results section of the
ExASRS v2.0 output report.

5.0 CONCLUSIONS
This paper details the cycle time calculations used within the ExASRS v2.0 software tool. The
interested reader is referred to the original sources of these calculations, [1], [2], [3], and [4].

REFERENCES
[1] Bozer, Y.A. and White, J.A., 1984, "Travel-time models for automated storage and retrieval
systems," IIE Transactions, Vol. 16 (4), pp. 329-338.

[2] Chang, D.T., Wen, U.P., and Lin, J.T., 1995, “The Impact Of Acceleration Deceleration On
Travel-Time Models For Automated Storage-Retrieval Systems,” IIE Transactions, Vol. 27 (1),
pp. 108-111.

[3] Meller, R.D. and Mungwattana, A., 1997, “Multi-shuttle automated storage/retrieval
systems,” IIE Transactions, Vol. 29 (10), pp. 925-938.

[4] Hwang, H., and Lee, S.B., 1990, “Travel-time models considering the operating
characteristics of the storage and retrieval machine,” International Journal of Production
Research, Vol. 28 (10), pp. 1779-1789.

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