Title: The study of the adaptive combination optimisation problem of the handling unit

Authors: Mingyuan Zhang; Wenjun Meng; Zhengyu Sun; Xiaoxia Zhao; Xiaoxia Sun

Addresses: Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Intelligent Logistics Equipment, Provincial Technology Innovation Center of Efficient Line-side Logistics System and Equipment, Taiyuan, 030024, China ' Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Intelligent Logistics Equipment, Provincial Technology Innovation Center of Efficient Line-side Logistics System and Equipment, Taiyuan, 030024, China ' Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Intelligent Logistics Equipment, Provincial Technology Innovation Center of Efficient Line-side Logistics System and Equipment, Taiyuan, 030024, China ' Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Intelligent Logistics Equipment, Provincial Technology Innovation Center of Efficient Line-side Logistics System and Equipment, Taiyuan, 030024, China ' Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Intelligent Logistics Equipment, Provincial Technology Innovation Center of Efficient Line-side Logistics System and Equipment, Taiyuan, 030024, China

Abstract: This study proposes an adaptive configuration search method to address inefficient formation selection and slow computation in multi-unit collaborative handling of special-shaped workpieces. The method introduces two evaluation metrics (fitness degree and remaining effective space) and two constraint strategies: an overstepping boundary constraint for extended placement possibilities, and a combination constraint for stability. Finally, these strategies are embedded into the genetic algorithm to propose a hybrid heuristic algorithm based on effective area. Validation on a dedicated dataset of special-shaped workpieces demonstrates significant improvements - the overstepping boundary constraint strategy reduces the total handling unit requirement by 23.94%, while the fitness degree and remaining effective space metrics achieve a 22.86% reduction in total unit demand while simultaneously significantly improving remaining space quality.

Keywords: intelligent logistics; handling unit; special-shaped workpiece; adaptability; overstepping constraint.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCSM.2025.147461

International Journal of Computing Science and Mathematics, 2025 Vol.21 No.3, pp.194 - 218

Received: 08 Jan 2025
Accepted: 17 Apr 2025
Published online: 16 Jul 2025 *

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