This work tackles the problem of controlling operations at an automated container terminal. In the context of large supply chains, there is a growing trend for increasing productivity and economic efficiency. New optimization models and algorithms are provided for scheduling and routing equipment that is moving containers in a quay area, loading/unloading ships, transporting them via Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to Automated Stacking Cranes (ASCs), organizing them in stacks. In contrast with the majority of the approaches in the related literature, this work tackles two dynamics of the system, a discrete dynamic, characteristic of the maximization of operations efficiency, by assigning the best AGV and operation time to a set of containers, and a continuous dynamic of the AGV that moves in a geographically limited area. As an assumption, AGVs can follow free range trajectories that minimize the error of the target time and increase the responsiveness of the system. A novel solution framework is proposed in order to tackle the two system dynamics. Various metaheuristic algorithms are tested to solve the problem in a near-optimal way. Computational experiments are presented in order to show the feasibility of the proposed framework on a practical case study, and to assess the performance of advanced scheduling and routing algorithms on numerous system settings.@en

This paper addresses the real-time problem of coordinating aircraft ground and air operations in an airport area. At a congested airport, airborne decisions are related to take-off and landing operations, while ground (taxiway) decisions consist of scheduling aircraft movements between the gates and the runways. Since the runways are the initial/terminal points of both decisions, coordinated actions have a great potential to improve the overall performance. However, in the traffic control practice the different decisions are taken by different controllers, at least in large airports. Weak coordination may result in long queues at the runways, with increasing aircraft delays and energy consumption. This paper investigates models, methods and policies for improving the coordination between taxiway scheduling and airborne scheduling. The performance of a solution is measured in terms of delay and travel time, the latter being related to the energy consumption of an aircraft. A microscopic mathematical formulation is adopted to achieve reliable solutions. Exact and heuristic methods have been analysed in combination with the different policies, based on practical-size instances from Amsterdam Schiphol airport, in the Netherlands. Computational experience shows that good quality solutions can be found within limited time, compatible with real-time operations.@en