scholarly journals Using MAP-Elites to support policy making around Workforce Scheduling and Routing

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-117
Author(s):  
Neil Urquhart ◽  
Emma Hart ◽  
William Hutcheson

AbstractAlgorithms such as MAP-Elites provide a means of allowing users to explore a solution space by returning an archive of high-performing solutions. Such an archive, can allow the user an overview of the solution space which may be useful when formulating policy around the problem itself. The number of solutions that can potentially be returned by MAP-Elites is controlled by a parameter d that discretises the user-defined features into ‘bins’. For a fixed evaluation budget, increasing the number of bins increases user-choice, but at the same time, may lead to a reduction in overall quality of solutions. We undertake a study of the application of Map-Elites to a Workforce Scheduling and Routing problem, using a set of realistic instances based in London.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ha-Bang Ban ◽  
Phuong Khanh Nguyen

AbstractThe Asymmetric Distance-Constrained Vehicle Routing Problem (ADVRP) is NP-hard as it is a natural extension of the NP-hard Vehicle Routing Problem. In ADVRP problem, each customer is visited exactly once by a vehicle; every tour starts and ends at a depot; and the traveled distance by each vehicle is not allowed to exceed a predetermined limit. We propose a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm combining the Randomized Variable Neighborhood Search (RVNS) and the Tabu Search (TS) to solve the problem. The combination of multiple neighborhoods and tabu mechanism is used for their capacity to escape local optima while exploring the solution space. Furthermore, the intensification and diversification phases are also included to deliver optimized and diversified solutions. Extensive numerical experiments and comparisons with all the state-of-the-art algorithms show that the proposed method is highly competitive in terms of solution quality and computation time, providing new best solutions for a number of instances.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6-7 ◽  
pp. 256-260
Author(s):  
Hai Hua Li ◽  
Zong Yan Xu ◽  
Fei Fei Zhou

Vehicle routing problem is a typical NP-hard problem and is difficult to get an optimum solution. Aiming at the shortages of the existing methods, this paper proposed an algorithm based on immune clonal selection to solve vehicle routing problem. In the algorithm, expressed antibody with matrix, generated the initial population of antibodies randomly, and employed the operations such as clonal selection, genetic mutation iteratively to search optimum solution in solution space. The experimental results show that the algorithm presented here can converge to the global optimum solution rapidly, overcoming such disadvantages of the genetic algorithm as slower convergent velocity and the convergence to a local optimum solution.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Chenghua Shi ◽  
Tonglei Li ◽  
Yu Bai ◽  
Fei Zhao

We present the vehicle routing problem with potential demands and time windows (VRP-PDTW), which is a variation of the classical VRP. A homogenous fleet of vehicles originated in a central depot serves customers with soft time windows and deliveries from/to their locations, and split delivery is considered. Also, besides the initial demand in the order contract, the potential demand caused by conformity consuming behavior is also integrated and modeled in our problem. The objective of minimizing the cost traveled by the vehicles and penalized cost due to violating time windows is then constructed. We propose a heuristics-based parthenogenetic algorithm (HPGA) for successfully solving optimal solutions to the problem, in which heuristics is introduced to generate the initial solution. Computational experiments are reported for instances and the proposed algorithm is compared with genetic algorithm (GA) and heuristics-based genetic algorithm (HGA) from the literature. The comparison results show that our algorithm is quite competitive by considering the quality of solutions and computation time.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Hailie Suk ◽  
Ayushi Sharma ◽  
Anand Balu Nellippallil ◽  
Ashok Das ◽  
John Hall

Abstract The quality of life (QOL) in rural communities is improved through electrification. Microgrids can provide electricity in areas where grid access to electricity is infeasible. Still, insufficient power capacity hinders the very progress that microgrids promote. Therefore, we propose a decision-making framework to manage power distribution based on its impact on the rural QOL. Parameters are examined in this paper to represent the QOL pertaining to water, safety, education, and leisure/social activities. Each parameter is evaluated based on condition, community importance, and energy dependence. A solution for power allocation is developed by executing the compromise decision support problem (cDSP) and exploring the solution space. Energy loads, such as those required for powering water pumps, streetlamps, and household devices are prioritized in the context of the QOL. The technique also allows decision-makers to update the power distribution scheme as the dynamics between energy production and demand change over time. In this paper, we propose a framework for connecting QOL and power management. The flexibility of the approach is demonstrated using a problem with varying scenarios that may be time-dependent. The work enables sustainable energy solutions that can evolve with community development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Ank Michels ◽  
Harmen Binnema

In recent decades, so-called “mini-publics” have been organized in many countries to renew policy making and democracy. One characteristic of mini-publics is that the selection of the participants is based on random sampling or sortition. This gives each member of the community an equal chance of being selected. Another feature is that deliberation forms the core of the process of how proposals are developed. In this paper, we investigate the possibilities and challenges of sortition and deliberation in the context of the call for a deepening of democracy and more citizen engagement in policy making. Based on extensive research on citizens’ forums (G1000) in The Netherlands, we show the potential of mini-publics, but a number of shortcomings as well. Some of these are related to the specific design of the G1000, while others are of a more fundamental nature and are due to the contradictory democratic values that deliberative mini-publics try to combine. One of these concerns the tension between the quality of deliberation and political impact. We conclude that combining institutional approaches could be a way out to deal with these tensions and a step forward to both deepen and connect democratic processes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-36
Author(s):  
Mohammed Mahseur ◽  
Abdelmadjid Boukra ◽  
Yassine Meraihi

Multicast routing is the problem of finding the spanning tree of a set of destinations whose roots are the source node and its leaves are the set of destination nodes by optimizing a set of quality of service parameters and satisfying a set of transmission constraints. This article proposes a new hybrid multicast algorithm called Hybrid Multi-objective Multicast Algorithm (HMMA) based on the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA) to evaluate and classify the population in dominated solutions and non-dominated solutions. Dominated solutions are evolved by the Bat Algorithm, and non-dominated solutions are evolved by the Firefly Algorithm. Old and weak solutions are replaced by new random solutions by a process of mutation. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is able to find good Pareto optimal solutions compared to other algorithms.


1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraint Parry

These Words Spoken By President Clinton At His Inauguration on 20 January 1993 can usefully serve as a leitmotif for the present issue of the journal Government and Opposition. The issue is itself the outcome of a conference organized by the journal and the Department of Government of the University of Manchester. The theme was the ‘Influences of Domestic and International Factors on Processes of Policy-Making’. However, this title does not quite catch the interactive quality of the phenomenon which the group was seeking to examine. Increasingly, it has been contended, policies at the domestic level whether in what we once called the first, second or third worlds are being profoundly influenced by international or ‘global’ considerations. But it is also the case that international agreements are being accommodated to the sensitivities of the domestic politics of the partners.


Author(s):  
J.K. GALBRAITH ◽  

The changing economic structures, increased complexity and social requirements of advanced societies have rendered the statistical foundations of the National Income and Product Accounts highly problematic as a guide to policy-making. Discussions of “secular stagnation” and low productivity growth are predicated on these problematic measures, including the measures of price change that are used to distinguish “real” from “nominal” changes. This paper explores the consequences for measurement and for policy of the rise of the decline of manufacturing employment, the rise of services, and the rising need for public goods, public services, and investments aimed at sustainability and at the quality of life.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Shane

Given the ubiquity of computer networks and our reliance as a society on their integrity and robustness, the quality of cyber-security is an issue that affects everyone. Yet, cyber-security policy making has remained almost entirely within the purview of lobbyists and technical experts. This article argues for both the plausibility and normative imperative of greater public participation in cyber policy making.


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