Glossary · Packaging and intralogistics
Mission planning
Also known as: Mission management, Order dispatching (AGV)
German: Missionsplanung
In intralogistics, mission planning is the function of a fleet management system that turns transport orders into missions for mobile robots or AGVs, including vehicle selection, sequence of actions and route.
- Intralogistics
In one sentence
Mission planning turns transport orders into missions for AGVs or mobile robots: which vehicle, which actions and which route.
Example
Mission planning combines two tote pickups in the same aisle into one mission for an AMR with two load positions.
How it applies
- Engineering: A mission is a sequence of actions such as drive, pick, drop and wait. Mission planning considers vehicle capabilities, battery state, priorities and deadlines. Some systems optimize with heuristics, others with solvers or learning methods.
- Operation: Planners define mission templates for recurring tasks. Operators can prioritize or cancel missions; the system must handle a canceled mission safely, for example with a load still on the vehicle.
- Integration: Missions are triggered by the WMS, MES or call buttons. The interface should define how failed missions are reported back.
- Documentation: Document mission templates, priority rules and the handling of failed or aborted missions. Operators need to know what the vehicle does after a mission is canceled.
Mission planning vs. traffic management
Mission planning decides what each vehicle does and roughly where it goes. Traffic management (mobile robots) resolves conflicts at runtime, such as intersections and narrow passages.