Probabilistic behavior and reliability analysis for a multi-robot system by applying Petri net and Markov renewal process theory

The strategic importance of robots in the workplace has greatly increased in recent years as an ever wider variety have been introduced into a whole host of industrial production lines. However, when these robots are examined in the context of the entire production system a number of problems can be identified. Firstly, the slowness of the operating time and secondly the fall-off in efficiency and reliability of the system when a robot is integrated with other units. This paper seeks to carefully analyze the behavior of two robots in a combination of arrangements. The robots operate independently and in coordination with each other and then each of them operates in conjunction with a conveyer incorporated in the system. Operations are then represented in a Petri net model and analysis of probabilistic behavior and reliability is performed with introducing of Markov renewal process. In terms of numerical examples a comparison of uniform and non-uniform mean operating time intervals is made in order to determine the effect of irregularities in robot operations on the system as a whole.