Control Point

Overview and Key Concepts

Control Points are points on the AGV network where various decision logic happens.

A control point may be:

  • A point where AGVs pick up and/or drop off flow items.
  • A stopping point on the network where AGVs wait to enter an area or section of a path.
  • A decision point on the network where the AGV looks for work to do.
  • A decision point on the network where an AGV is dispatched to some other point on the network, dependent on network state/availability.
  • A dynamic barrier that will cause AGVs to route around it when its routingConstraint property is set.

Control Point Allocation/Deallocation

Control Points act as allocation/deallocation points on the network. AGVs automatically look ahead to their next control point and must allocate that control point before proceeding on the network.

Events

For information on events, see the Event Listening page.

The control point has the following events:

On Allocated

Fired when the control point is allocated by an AGV.

It has the following parameters:

Event Parameter Type Explanation
TE TaskExecuter The task executer that allocated the control point.
AGV AGV The AGV instance associated with the task executer.

On Arrival

Fired at an AGV's arrival at the control point, i.e. when the AGV has decelerated to stop at the control point, either because it could not allocate further ahead or if the control point is the final destination.

It has the following parameters:

Event Parameter Type Explanation
TE TaskExecuter The task executer that arrived at the control point.
AGV AGV The AGV instance associated with the task executer.
Dest CP Object The AGV's destination.
Path Offset double The AGV's destination path offset.
AGV Body Offset double The AGV's destination body offset.

On Deallocated

Fired when the Control Point is deallocated by an AGV. If you return a reference to an AGV.AllocationPoint from this trigger (by searching the AGV.AllocatableObject's requests array), then the object will allocate itself to that request. This allows you to implement custom prioritization strategies.

It has the following parameters:

Event Parameter Type Explanation
TE TaskExecuter The task executer that deallocated the control point.
AGV AGV The AGV instance associated with the task executer.

On Entry

Fired when an object (usually a flow item) is moved into the control point.

It has the following parameters:

Event Parameter Type Explanation
Item Object The item that entered the control point.

On Exit

Fired when an object (usually a flow item) is moved out of the control point.

It has the following parameters:

Event Parameter Type Explanation
Item Object The item that is exiting the control point.

On Pre Arrival

Fired at an AGV's pre-arrival to the control point, i.e. the point at which the AGV would start to decelerate to stop at the control point if needed. On Pre Arrival is fired prior the AGV allocating further ahead or when the AGV starts decelerating to its final destination.

It has the following parameters:

Event Parameter Type Explanation
TE TaskExecuter The task executer associated with the event.
AGV AGV The AGV instance associated with the task executer.
Dest CP Object The AGV's destination.

On Request

This event is fired when the control point receives a request to be allocated by an AGV. You can return an AGV.Request value from this trigger to force the request to either be allowed (i.e. allocate the object), or blocked, overriding the default allocation behavior.

It has the following parameters:

Event Parameter Type Explanation
TE TaskExecuter The task executer that is requesting allocation.
AGV AGV The AGV instance associated with the task executer.
Point AGV.AllocationPoint The allocation point that is requesting allocation.

States

The control point does not implement any states.

Statistics

The control point tracks the following statistics:

AllocationCount

The total number of AGVs who have allocated the control point. Usually this will either be 0 or 1, unless you set the control point's Max Allocations to be greater than 1.

Properties Panels

The Control Point object uses the following properties panels:

Properties

The Control Point object uses the following properties:

PropertyType
DeallocationType Options
MaxAllocations Number