This paper considers the problem of cyclic ow shop robotic cell scheduling deploying several single and dual gripper robots. In this problem, dierent part types are successively processed on multiple machines with dierent pickup criteria including free pickup, pickup within time-windows and no-waiting times. The parts are transported between the machines by the robots. We propose a novel mixed integer programming model which simultaneously determines the optimal sequence of the parts for the cyclic schedule and the optimal sequencing of the robots' movements, which in turn maximises the throughput rate. The proposed mathematical model is validated on a number of randomly generated test instances. These problem instances are constructed by varying the number of machines, part types, robots and gripper options. This allows a detailed analysis of the model including how it scales with increasing numbers of machines, part types, robots and grippers. The experimental results show that model generates good feasible solutions for up to 20 machines and 10 part types.
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School of Mathematical Sciences, Monash University, Australia