Optimal Assignment of Customer-Desired Items to the Fetching Robots in Superstores

Authors

  • Ali Nasir
  • Muhammad Saadi
  • Rida Gelani
  • Faisal Mustafa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4186/ej.2021.25.11.1 Full article

Abstract

This paper discusses a task assignment problem. The scenario under consideration is a superstore with a team of fetching robots. There is a set of customers each requiring a unique set of items. The goal is to assign the task of fetching the items to the available robots in such a way that the time and effort required for fetching the item is minimized. For this purpose, a Markov Decision Process based model has been proposed. The proposed-model is solvable using stochastic dynamic programming algorithms such as value iteration for the calculation of optimal task assignment policy. The analysis of the characteristics of the resulting optimal policy has been presented with the help of a numerical case study.

Keywords:

Markov decision processes, task assignment problem, optimality criteria, shopping assistance

Affiliations

  • Ali Nasir University of Central Punjab
  • Muhammad Saadi University of Central Punjab
  • Rida Gelani University of Central Punjab
  • Faisal Mustafa University of Central Punjab

Corresponding author: Muhammad Saadi, muhammad.saadi@ucp.edu.pk

2082 1125

Author Biographies

  • Ali Nasir

    Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

  • Muhammad Saadi

    Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

  • Rida Gelani

    Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

  • Faisal Mustafa

    This paper discusses a task assignment problem. The scenario under consideration is a superstore with a team of fetching robots. There is a set of customers each requiring a unique set of items. The goal is to assign the task of fetching the items to the available robots in such a way that the time and effort required for fetching the item is minimized. For this purpose, a Markov Decision Process based model has been proposed. The proposed-model is solvable using stochastic dynamic programming algorithms such as value iteration for the calculation of optimal task assignment policy. The analysis of the characteristics of the resulting optimal policy has been presented with the help of a numerical case study.

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How to Cite

[1]
A. Nasir, M. Saadi, R. Gelani, and F. Mustafa, “Optimal Assignment of Customer-Desired Items to the Fetching Robots in Superstores”, Eng. J., vol. 25, no. 11, pp. 1–11, Nov. 2021, doi: 10.4186/ej.2021.25.11.1.

Citations

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Published

2021-11-30

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 11 (2021): Regular Issue

Section

Modern Engineering Technology

License

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