scholarly journals Solving the Quorumcast Routing Problem as a Mixed Integer Program

Author(s):  
Quoc Trung Bui ◽  
Quang Dung Pham ◽  
Yves Deville
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Robert Rich

Many network problems deal with the routing of a main tool comprised of several parallel assisting tools. These problems can be found with multi-tool-head routing of CNC machines, waterjets, plasma sprayers, and cutting machines. Other applications involve logistics, distribution, and material handling that require a main tool with assisting tools. Currently no studies exist that optimally route a main tool comprised of and fitted with multiple tools, nor do any studies evaluate the impact of adding additional capabilities to the tool set. Herein we define the network routing problem for a main tool comprised of multiple secondary tools. We introduce first principles to properly configure the main tool with the appropriate number of supporting tools such that that system is not overstatured. We invert the network geometry to extract the “best case” configuration for toolset configuration to include speed, range, and number of such that the system is lean. Our computational studies reveal that the theorems introduced herein greatly improve the overall system performance without oversaturating it with unused resources. In order to validate experiments, we define a mixed integer program and compare it to our metaheuristics developed for experimentation. Both the MIP and the metaheuristics herein optimally route a main tool with multiple assisting tools as well as the routing of a parcel delivery truck comprised of many drones.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Rich

Many industries are looking for ways to economically use truck/rail/ship fitted with drone technologies to augment the “last mile” delivery effort. While drone technologies abound, few, if any studies look at the proper configuration of the drone based on significant features of the problem: delivery density, operating area, drone range, and speed. Here, we first present the truck-drone problem and then invert the network routing problem such that the best case drone speed and range are fitted to the truck for a given scenario based on the network delivery density. By inverting the problem, a business can quickly determine the drone configuration (proper drone range and speed) necessary to optimize the delivery system. Additionally, we provide a more usable version of the truck-drone routing problem as a mixed integer program that can be easily adopted with standardized software used to solve linear programming. Furthermore, our computational metaheuristics and experiments conducted in support of this work are available for download. The metaheuristics used herein surpass current best-in-class algorithms found in literature.


Author(s):  
Julian Hof ◽  
Michael Schneider

In numerous practical vehicle-routing applications, larger vehicles are employed as mobile depots to support a fleet of smaller vehicles that perform certain tasks. The mobile depots offer the possibility of keeping the task vehicles operational by supplying them en route with certain resources. For example, in two-echelon distribution systems, small task vehicles are used to navigate narrow streets and to deliver/collect goods or to collect waste, and larger vehicles serve as mobile depots to replenish the goods to be delivered or to receive collected goods or waste at the outskirts of the urban area. Accessibility constraints may also be imposed by regulations on emissions, which make some areas only accessible for environmentally friendly vehicles such as, for example, battery-powered electric vehicles. Especially if the respective refueling infrastructure is sparse, mobile refueling stations seem to be an interesting alternative. In this paper, we introduce the vehicle-routing problem with time windows and mobile depots (VRPTWMD) to capture the routing decisions of the described applications in a generalized fashion. The VRPTWMD is characterized by fleets of task vehicles (TVs) and support vehicles (SVs). The SVs may serve as mobile depots to restore either the load or the fuel capacity of the TVs that are used to fulfill the customer requests. We present a mixed-integer program for the VRPTWMD with which small instances can be solved using a commercial solver. Moreover, we develop a high-quality hybrid heuristic composed of an adaptive large neighborhood search and a path relinking approach to provide solutions on larger problem instances. We use a newly generated set of large VRPTWMD instances to analyze the effect of different problem characteristics on the structure of the identified solutions. In addition, our approach shows very convincing performance on benchmark instances for the related two-echelon multiple-trip VRP with satellite synchronization, which can be viewed as a special case of the VRPTWMD. Our heuristic is able to significantly improve a large part of the previous best-known solutions while spending notably less computation time than the comparison algorithm from the literature.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin J. Belval ◽  
Yu Wei ◽  
Michael Bevers

Wildfire behavior is a complex and stochastic phenomenon that can present unique tactical management challenges. This paper investigates a multistage stochastic mixed integer program with full recourse to model spatially explicit fire behavior and to select suppression locations for a wildland fire. Simplified suppression decisions take the form of “suppression nodes”, which are placed on a raster landscape for multiple decision stages. Weather scenarios are used to represent a distribution of probable changes in fire behavior in response to random weather changes, modeled using probabilistic weather trees. Multistage suppression decisions and fire behavior respond to these weather events and to each other. Nonanticipativity constraints ensure that suppression decisions account for uncertainty in weather forecasts. Test cases for this model provide examples of fire behavior interacting with suppression to achieve a minimum expected area impacted by fire and suppression.


1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-446
Author(s):  
W G Truscott

This note examines a previously published model for dynamic location—allocation analysis. The usefulness of this model is enhanced by reformulating the problem as an operational zero-one, mixed-integer program while retaining the intent of the original version.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6610
Author(s):  
Raka Jovanovic ◽  
Islam Safak Bayram ◽  
Sertac Bayhan ◽  
Stefan Voß

Electrifying public bus transportation is a critical step in reaching net-zero goals. In this paper, the focus is on the problem of optimal scheduling of an electric bus (EB) fleet to cover a public transport timetable. The problem is modelled using a mixed integer program (MIP) in which the charging time of an EB is pertinent to the battery’s state-of-charge level. To be able to solve large problem instances corresponding to real-world applications of the model, a metaheuristic approach is investigated. To be more precise, a greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) algorithm is developed and its performance is evaluated against optimal solutions acquired using the MIP. The GRASP algorithm is used for case studies on several public transport systems having various properties and sizes. The analysis focuses on the relation between EB ranges (battery capacity) and required charging rates (in kW) on the size of the fleet needed to cover a public transport timetable. The results of the conducted computational experiments indicate that an increase in infrastructure investment through high speed chargers can significantly decrease the size of the necessary fleets. The results also show that high speed chargers have a more significant impact than an increase in battery sizes of the EBs.


Author(s):  
Elias Olivares-Benitez ◽  
Pilar Novo Ibarra ◽  
Samuel Nucamendi-Guillén ◽  
Omar G. Rojas

This chapter presents a case study to organize the sales territories for a company with 11 sales managers to be assigned to 111 sales coverage units in Mexico. The assignment problem is modeled as a mathematical program with two objective functions. One objective minimizes the maximum distance traveled by the manager, and the other objective minimizes the variation of the sales growth goals with respect to the national average. To solve the bi-objective non-linear mixed-integer program, a weights method is selected. Some instances are solved using commercial software with long computational times. Also, a heuristic and a metaheuristic based on simulated annealing were developed. The design of the heuristic generates good solutions for the distance objective. The metaheuristic produces better results than the heuristic, with a better balance between the objectives. The heuristic and the metaheuristic are capable of providing good results with short computational times.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1459-1486
Author(s):  
Vassilis M. Charitopoulos ◽  
Vivek Dua ◽  
Jose M. Pinto ◽  
Lazaros G. Papageorgiou

Abstract Under the ever-increasing capital intensive environment that contemporary process industries face, oligopolies begin to form in mature markets where a small number of companies regulate and serve the customer base. Strategic and operational decisions are highly dependent on the firms’ customer portfolio and conventional modelling approaches neglect the rational behaviour of the decision makers, with regards to the problem of customer allocation, by assuming either static competition or a leader-follower structure. In this article, we address the fair customer allocation within oligopolies by employing the Nash bargaining approach. The overall problem is formulated as mixed integer program with linear constraints and a nonlinear objective function which is further linearised following a separable programming approach. Case studies from the industrial liquid market highlight the importance and benefits of the proposed game theoretic approach.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document