In a recent model I was building I needed a case packer that had some special abilities. This "Combiner" is different than a traditional library accessed Combiner because: 1) You can set how many containers can be packed at a time. (In my model 3 cases were packed simultaneously with each cycle. I call these "batches" in my logic. This variable is accessed as a label on the 3D object. 2) It assumes that all the flowitems being packed come from the same port, you can't have multiple sources of flowitems or have a recipe. Although it could be modified to allow for that. 3) It is very easy to set home many flowitems per container. This variable is accessed as a label on the 3D object. This could be changed easily as the itemtype or some other criteria changes while running the model. 4) If the flow of containers or flowitems is delayed, the machine can time out and release a partial batch or partially filled container. I have included a model control GUI so you can manually stop the sources and test this logic. Note the labels associated with max wait time in the object labels again. 5) After a batch of containers and flowitems has been collected, there is a RobotCycleTime that occurs that represents the moving of the flowitems into the containers, this time is ran one time for the entire batch. While this object may not be the final solution for a lot of instances, I believe that it is a good starting point for a lot of objects that will be needed in future models. The Process Flow is well documented to explain the logic. Note that this is an Object Process Flow and all instances will need to be connected to the logic in the process flow. CustomCasePacker.fsm 0

This Kiva system demo model showcases some of the new AGV/AMR features that were added in FlexSim 2023, including new events and parameters to help with deadlock and allocation failure, and dynamic barrier management. You can update the layout through five parameters, and then click the “Build” button to re-build the system. FlexSim-2023-Kiva-System-Demo.fsm

This supply chain demonstration model shows both a visual and statistical representation of a company's stock and backorder from day-to-day. The goal of the model was to predict shortages and backorder trends due to COVID-related disruptions. FlexSim's 3D view is used in a novel way to visualize the current stock and demand for each product. Each queue represents a different product SKU and each box represents a product unit, with red indicating product demand and blue indicating product availability. This model also contains a comprehensive set of dashboards to help visualize and interpret the data. Logistics_Supply-Shortages-Stockouts_v22-2.fsm

Attached are three models that can be used to see the VR capabilities of FlexSim. oculus-warehouse-demo4.fsm (built with FlexSim 7.7) oculustouchdemo-6.fsm (built with FlexSim 17.1) The zombie production game was also updated for VR. These models were primarily designed and tested with the Oculus Rift, but they work with the HTC Vive as well. The HTC Vive requires a more powerful graphics card than the Oculus Rift does to achieve similar performance. You need to maintain 90+ frames per second (File > Global Preferences > Graphics > Show FPS Counter) in order to avoid judder with the HTC Vive. The Oculus Rift will remain smooth at 45 FPS or higher due to asynchronous spacewarp in their driver. In any model in 17.1, you can teleport around by pointing and pressing the Vive touch pads or Oculus Touch thumb sticks as buttons. The position where the thumb presses the button on the Vive or the direction that the thumb stick is rotated on the Oculus Touch will affect the direction you are looking when you teleport. This control scheme is similar to the Oculus Home controls. Moving via teleporting minimizes the motion sickness felt by users who are unaccustomed to VR. In the touch demo model, you can push buttons to release conveyor merge lanes, move operator figurines to change the operator assignments, and control the crane. The code that handles the touch inputs is in the ModelOnPreDraw user command. See VR model custom code for a version of the model with more comments in the code. The warehouse demo model was built in 2015 and doesn’t have any interactive elements that work with the Oculus Touch or HTC Vive controllers. For optimal tracking, after you press the VR Mode button in FlexSim and put on the headset, make sure you recenter the headset in the VR settings while standing or sitting in the middle of your play area and looking straight forward. On the Vive, push the system button to open the Steam VR overlay, then press the Settings button near the bottom-right corner, then look straight forward and press the Reset Seated Position button. On the Oculus, press the Oculus home button and then press the Reset View in App button in the upper-right corner.

A number of questions on the forum involve racks being service by a combination of shuttles and elevators. There are solutions involving network, Astar and AGV navigators, but for this example we’re just going to use TaskExecuter FlowItems and conveyors. The elevator system in particular, as described to me, seemed it would benefit from the flexibility conveyors offer – particularly spacing options, and the possibility of having dog/power-and-free based travel. For the pick face we can just use the slot and item locations to give the task executers travel command, and we can use kinematics for loading and unloading tasks. This removes the need for network nodes or control points at each location and allows fine positioning of a ‘two spot’ shuttle in front of the slot. The system has been put into a container to represent the cell/aisle and it is this object that is the instance member of the ShuttleSystemProcess process flow. The cell is designed to be duplicated with each cell becoming a new member instance of the single process flow. It comprises two racks, two elevators (conveyor loops), and a shuttle return queue (also a conveyor but with no roller visual). The system assumes that by the time an inbound item arrives at the pickup position it has been assigned a slot in one of the racks in the cell – so you should assign a slot in the normal way before it reaches a shuttle. You can additionally request items for picking out of the racks by pushing the item to the global list ItemsToPick. Currently each shuttle will store and/or pick one item in one trip with a dedicated position for each. When doing both in a single trip, the order in which this happens will depend where along the level the slots are located. In the event that there are no remaining tasks but items still need to exit the cell, the shuttles at the front of the queue will be asked to circulate empty through the system, thereby allowing the outbound items to advance to the exit position. The number of shuttles in the system is a process flow variable. In the example system there are elevators at each end of the rack(s) with a number of carriers to transport shuttles to the levels. Both elevators have a process flow variable for the number of carriers to be generated. Shuttles are not allowed to pick from the same level at the same time but in order to keep the up-elevator moving the carriers can unload the shuttle to the level even if another is active on that level. The shuttles only travel along the face of the rack in one direction towards the down-elevator and once are collected by a carrier the next shuttle on that level can start its operations. It is possible to run the system with only one rack should you wish to view the operations without the second rack obscuring your view. Since different applications will use different rack dimensions the cell has a label method called “configureToRack” which will align the conveyors and decision points to Rack1 based on the level heights and size of the racks that the user has set for Rack1. There may be some limits to very small sizes when the conveyor decision points overlap. The second rack will be configured during this method call to mirror Rack1. Here’s an example invocation of this method for an instance of the cell: Model.find("RackShuttleSystem").as(Object).configureToRack The shuttles need levels to be the same height along the length of the rack. Some effort was made to configure the system based on the shuttle and carrier sizes, so you can try adjusting those to suit your needs and hopefully the alignment will work as needed. The elevator conveyor and shuttle speeds are not set by the alignment method so you can edit those in the usual way. This is an example for both learning and perhaps as a starting point for any project should you find the approach suits your application, modelling style and skills. ShuttleLiftAndRack.fsm Time taken: 1 day to build the working model - plus another to work around holes api for auto-alignment code. 17Nov Updated: to initalize shuttles at the load point (via fast entry) added shuttleQheight label for use to set the returnQ height in the cell (used by the alignment method) added a process flow variable 'shuttleLoadTime' for the time to un/load items. aligned shuttle kinematics to the speed and acceleration of the TE FlowItem.

Attached is a simple model that implements functionality for "pallet moles." These are small vehicles that move pallets forward in a racking system. The targeted behavior is a FIFO storage mechanism like what you would see in gravity flow racks. However, for incredibly deep storage, a gravity flow mechanism would result in unacceptable pressures exerted on the pallets at the front of the rack, especially when pallets collide with each other as they roll down the slot. These pallet moles solve these issues. They provide the forward movement that enables FIFO storage, without the unacceptable pressures that come with gravity flow. The functionality is implemented as two object process flows, one for the rack, and one for the pallet mole. As such, it is scalable to higher numbers of racks and moles. Just add the set of racks/moles that your model uses, and then make sure those objects are attached as instances of their respective object process flow. Moles can be moved between different slots in the racking system. If a mole needs to move to a different slot, it will request transport from a team of fork lifts. The fork lift picks the mole up from the slot, and moves it to the destination slot. RackMole.fsm

Attached is a sample model that tracks social distancing metrics. I just grabbed one of our testing models, so it's not necessarily eye popping as far as visuals, but the basic concepts of social distancing metric tracking are in there. This model is implemented in the new 20.2 beta. It uses the new Agent module to detect proximity between objects. I added a proximity system, and added each operator as an agent in the system. I created an object that draws a "heat map" where proximity points happen. This is a visual tool called "HeatMap" in the model. If you send a message to the object it will add a "hot point" at the location of the sending object. I implemented the object's OnReset, OnMessage, and OnDraw triggers to do this. Once the heat map is set up, I have the proximity system send a message to the HeatMap from the involved agent object as part of it OnEnterProximity trigger. Second, I do some statistical tracking using a statistics collector named ProximityTimes. This listens to the agent proximity system's OnEnterProximity and OnExitProximity events, and collects data accordingly. The trickiest part to setting this up was sampling the actual event. For now (hopefully we'll get a better system in the future) you have to sample the event in the tree. In the Events tab of the statistics collector, press the sampler button, then in the tree navigate to the node at MODEL:/ProximitySystem>variables/behaviors/Proximity Behavior and hover the cursor over it to get the list of events. The ProximityTimes statistics collector collects individual times. This allowed me to add the "Time In Proximity" dashboard chart. For the other charts, I needed a calculated table to aggregate the values. The ProximityAggregates table aggregates the data needed for the other three dashboard charts: Total Proximity Time, Proximity Count, and Average Time In Proximity. SampleSocialDistancing.fsm

[ FlexSim 16.1.0 ] Attached is an example model that uses both of the new template process flows for AGV and AGV elevator control, available in FlexSim 2016 Update 1. Thanks @Katharina Albert (I believe), who provided the seed model, which I adjusted/extended as I implemented these process flows. This model enumerates many of the control point connections and path configurations you might use in an AGV model when using these template process flows.