Jerry Chun-Wei Lin
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
E-mail: jerrylin@ieee.org


Marcin Fojcik
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
E-mail: Marcin.Fojcik@hvl.no


Rafał Cupek
Silesian University of Technology, Poland
E-mail: Rafal.Cupek@polsl.pl

The increasing popularity of Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) is not only due to their impressive technical features, but also to their remarkable collaborative capabilities. The cooperative internal logistics facilitated by AGVs greatly increases production flexibility. AGVs have become a key technology for adaptive internal logistics, which is essential in agile manufacturing systems. AGVs play a critical role in today's manufacturing landscape, which is characterized by constant variability due to customer order changes, limited material inventories, integration of agile production technologies with robotic production stations, and a plethora of variations in production technology. All these factors require real-time support from sophisticated information services that seamlessly intervene in the various phases of the production process.

Moreover, the crucial role of comprehensive and remote data in AGVs cannot be overstated. They help in capturing driving and travel behavior, understanding human mobility, monitoring traffic flow, and providing more precise, traffic-aware navigation. As a result, production activities can no longer rely on centralized planning, but must take a collaborative approach that considers sensor data, ongoing production tasks, available materials, and production equipment and technologies.

The next generation of AGVs must prioritize autonomy and distribution of decision-making processes. With this in mind, this special session is dedicated to the following topics:

Paper submission: January 15, 2024 (hard deadline)
Notification of acceptance: February 28, 2024
Camera-ready papers: March 15, 2024
Registration & payment: March 15, 2024
Conference date: April 15-18, 2024