Agent-Based Container Terminal Optimisation - Multiagent System Technologies - page 137

Fig. 1. Port Scenario

Note that the aim of this project is not to automate container handling: the domain
is sufficiently complex that we cannot hope to capture all relevant situations and con-
straints. Instead, our ultimate aim is to develop an intelligent decision support tool that
can assist human decision makers who are running a container terminal.
The key contributions of this paper are: (1) An agent-based container terminal
simulation platform, which can be used to assess (static) policies, or to guide decision
makers during day-to-day operation (Section 4), (2) A negotiation-based algorithm for
optimising allocation of container moves to straddle carriers (Section 5), and (3) A ge-
netic algorithm approach for optimising the allocation of containers to yard locations
(Section 6).
This paper is structured as follows. In Section 2 we introduce the domain of container
terminals, along with associated problems; followed by a discussion of related work
(Section 3). Section 4 presents the agent-based simulator which we have developed. We
then discuss specific optimisations that address allocating container moves to straddle
carriers (Section 5) and allocating container locations in the yard (Section 6). Finally,
Section 7 concludes with discussions and future plans.

2 Container Terminal Operation

In this section we briefly introduce the domain of container terminal operations, and
the associated problems that confront a container terminal manager. Note that the dis-
cussion here is necessarily brief and omits various details and complexities. We aim to
capture the essence of the problem, and give some sense of the various constraints and
factors that make the problem challenging, without describing all such constraints and
factors.
A container terminal consists of a number of different areas, depicted in Figure 1.
The apron is the area directly beside the ship, into which containers are unloaded from
the ship, and from which containers are loaded onto the ship. Note that the apron is of
limited size. The bulk of the container terminal is taken up by the yard where containers
are stored. Figure 1 does not show the structure of the yard, some specific areas (such
as empty container storage, or container cleaning), or the rail and truck areas, where
trucks and trains arrive to collect and/or drop off containers.
Whilst the basic areas (e.g. apron, yard) are somewhat consistent between different
container terminals, the machines used vary. The local port that we have worked with