A heuristic block-loading algorithm based on multi-layer search for the container loading problem

This paper presents an efficient heuristic block-loading algorithm based on multi-layer search for the three-dimensional container loading problem. First, a basic heuristic block-loading algorithm is introduced. This algorithm loads one block, determined by a block selecting algorithm, in one packing phase, according to a fixed strategy, until no blocks are available. Second, the concept of composite block is introduced, the difference between traditional block and composite block being that composite block can contain multiple types of boxes in one block under some restrictions. Third, based on the depth-first search algorithm, a multi-layer search algorithm is developed for determining the selected block in each packing phase, and making this result closer to the optimal solution. Computational results on a classic data set show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the best known algorithm in almost all the test data.     

K: A heuristic search algorithm for finding the k shortest paths

We present a directed search algorithm, called K^?, for finding the k shortest paths between a designated pair of vertices in a given directed weighted graph. K^? has two advantages compared to current k-shortest-paths algorithms. First, K^? operates on-the-fly, which means that it does not require the graph to be explicitly available and stored in main memory. Portions of the graph will be generated as needed. Second, K^? can be guided using heuristic functions. We prove the correctness of K^? and determine its asymptotic worst-case complexity when using a consistent heuristic to be the same as the state of the art, , with respect to both runtime and space, where n is the number of vertices and m is the number of edges of the graph. We present an experimental evaluation of K^? by applying it to route planning problems as well as counterexample generation for stochastic model checking. The experimental results illustrate that due to the use of heuristic, on-the-fly search K^? can use less time and memory compared to the most efficient k-shortest-paths algorithms known so far.     

Multiobjective heuristic search in road maps

This article considers the application of exact multiobjective techniques to search in large size realistic road maps. In particular, the NAMOA^∗ algorithm is successfully applied to several road networks from the DIMACS shortest path implementation challenge with two objectives. An efficient heuristic function previously proposed by Tung and Chew is evaluated. Heuristic values are precalculated with search. The precalculation effort is shown to pay off during the multiobjective search stage. An improvement to the calculation procedure is also proposed, resulting in added improved time performance in many problem instances.     

Using heuristic search for finding deadlocks in concurrent systems

Model checking is a formal technique for proving the correctness of a system with respect to a desired behavior. This is accomplished by checking whether a structure representing the system (typically a labeled transition system) satisfies a temporal logic formula describing the expected behavior. Model checking has a number of advantages over traditional approaches that are based on simulation and testing: it is completely automatic and when the verification fails it returns a counterexample that can be used to pinpoint the source of the error. Nevertheless, model checking techniques often fail because of the state explosion problem: transition systems grow exponentially with the number of components. The aim of this paper is to attack the state explosion problem that may arise when looking for deadlocks in concurrent systems described through the calculus of communicating systems. We propose to use heuristics-based techniques, namely the A* algorithm, both to guide the search without constructing the complete transition system, and to provide minimal counterexamples. We have realized a prototype tool to evaluate the methodology. Experiments we have conducted on processes of different size show the benefit from using our technique against building the whole state space, or applying some other methods.     

A two-phase hybrid heuristic algorithm for the capacitated location-routing problem

In this paper, we propose a two-phase hybrid heuristic algorithm to solve the capacitated location-routing problem (CLRP). The CLRP combines depot location and routing decisions. We are given on input a set of identical vehicles (each having a capacity and a fixed cost), a set of depots with restricted capacities and opening costs, and a set of customers with deterministic demands. The problem consists of determining the depots to be opened, the customers and the vehicles to be assigned to each open depot, and the routes to be performed to fulfill the demand of the customers. The objective is to minimize the sum of the costs of the open depots, of the fixed cost associated with the used vehicles, and of the variable traveling costs related to the performed routes. In the proposed hybrid heuristic algorithm, after a Construction phase (first phase), a modified granular tabu search, with different diversification strategies, is applied during the Improvement phase (second phase). In addition, a random perturbation procedure is considered to avoid that the algorithm remains in a local optimum for a given number of iterations. Computational experiments on benchmark instances from the literature show that the proposed algorithm is able to produce, within short computing time, several solutions obtained by the previously published methods and new best known solutions.     

A least wasted first heuristic algorithm for the rectangular packing problem

The rectangular packing problem is to pack a number of rectangles into a single large rectangular sheet so as to maximize the total area covered by the rectangles packed. The paper first presents a least wasted first strategy which evaluates the positions used by the rectangles. Then a random local search is introduced to improve the results and a least wasted first heuristic algorithm (LWF) is further developed to find a desirable solution. Twenty-one rectangular-packing instances are tested by the algorithm developed, the experimental results show that the presented algorithm can achieve an optimal solution within reasonable time and is fairly efficient for dealing the rectangular packing problem. LWF still performs well when it is extended to solve zero-waste and non-zero-waste strip packing instances.     

A tree search algorithm for the container loading problem

This paper presents a binary tree search algorithm for the three dimensional container loading problem (3D-CLP). The 3D-CLP is about how to load a subset of a given set of rectangular boxes into a rectangular container, such that the packing volume is maximized. In this algorithm, all the boxes are grouped into strips and layers while three constraints, i.e., full support constraint, orientation constraint and guillotine cutting constraint are satisfied. A binary tree is created where each tree node denotes a container loading plan. For a non-root each node, the layer set of its left (or right) child is obtained by inserting a directed layer into its layer set. A directed layer is parallel (or perpendicular) to the left side of the container. Each leaf node denotes a complete container loading plan. The solution is the layer set whose total volume of the boxes is the greatest among all tree nodes. The proposed algorithm achieves good results for the well-known 3D-CLP instances suggested by Bischoff and Ratcliff with reasonable computing time.     

Combined Petri net modelling and AI-based heuristic hybrid search for flexible manufacturing systems—part II. Heuristic hybrid search

This two-part paper presents modelling and scheduling approaches of flexible manufacturing systems using Petri nets (PNs) and artificial intelligence (AI)-based heuristic search methods. In Part I, PN-based modelling approaches and basic AI-based heuristic search algorithms were presented. In Part II, a new heuristic function that exploits PN information is proposed. Heuristic information obtained from the PN model is used to dramatically reduce the search space. This heuristic is derived from a new concept, the resource cost reachability matrix, which builds on the properties of B-nets proposed in Part I. Two hybrid search algorithms, (1) an approach to model dispatching rules using analysis information provided by the PN simulation and (2) an approach of the modified stage-search algorithm, are proposed to reduce the complexity of large systems. A random problem generator is developed to test the proposed methods. The experimental results show promising results.     

A tabu search algorithm with a new neighborhood structure for the job shop scheduling problem

Tabu search (TS) algorithms are among the most effective approaches for solving the job shop scheduling problem (JSP) which is one of the most difficult NP-complete problems. However, neighborhood structures and move evaluation strategies play the central role in the effectiveness and efficiency of the tabu search for the JSP. In this paper, a new enhanced neighborhood structure is proposed and applied to solving the job shop scheduling problem by TS approach. Using this new neighborhood structure combined with the appropriate move evaluation strategy and parameters, we tested the TS approach on a set of standard benchmark instances and found a large number of better upper bounds among the unsolved instances. The computational results show that for the rectangular problem our approach dominates all others in terms of both solution quality and performance.     

Exact algorithm and heuristic for the Closest String Problem

The Closest String Problem (CSP) is an NP-hard problem, which arises in computational molecular biology and coding theory. This class of problems is to find a string that minimizes the maximum Hamming distance to a given set of strings. In this paper, we present an exact algorithm called Distance First Algorithm (DFA) for three strings of CSP with alphabet size two. For the general CSP, we design a polynomial heuristic which is a combination of our proposed approximation algorithm LDDA ([10] Liu Xiaolan, Fu Keqiang, Shao Renxiang. Largest distance decreasing algorithm for the Closest String Problem. Journal of Information & Computational Science 2004; 1(2): 287–92) and local search strategies. Numerical results show that the proposed heuristic may obtain a nearly optimal value in a reasonable time for small and large-scale instances of the CSP.     

Improved methods for scheduling flexible manufacturing systems based on Petri nets and heuristic search

This paper proposes and evaluates two improved Petri net （PN）-based hybrid search strategies and their applications to flexible manufacturing system （FMS） scheduling. The algorithms proposed in some previous papers, which combine PN simulation capabilities with A＊ heuristic search within the PN reachability graph,may not find an optimum solution even with an admissible heuristic function. To remedy the defects an improved heuristic search strategy is proposed, which adopts a different method for selecting the promising markings and reserves the admissibility of the algorithm. To speed up the search process, another algorithm is also proposed which invokes faster termination conditions and still guarantees that the solution found is optimum. The scheduling results are compared through a simple FMS between our algorithms and the previous methods. They are also applied and evaluated in a set of randomly-generated FMSs with such characteristics as multiple resources and alternative routes.     

A heuristic search algorithm with modifiable estimate

This paper describes an improved version of two previously published algorithms in the area: $\text{A1}$ and B. The new approach is based on considering the estimate ?(n) on node n as a variable rather than as a constant. The new algorithm thus improves the estimate as it goes on, avoiding some useless node expansions. It is proved to never expand more nodes than B or $\text{A1}$ and to expand a much smaller number of them in some cases.Another result of the paper is a proof that no overall optimal algorithm exists if the cost of an algorithm is measured by the total number of node expansions.     

Filter modeling using gravitational search algorithm

This paper is devoted to the presentation of a new linear and nonlinear filter modeling based on a gravitational search algorithm (GSA). To do this, unknown filter parameters are considered as a vector to be optimized. Examples of infinite impulse response (IIR) filter design, as well as rational nonlinear filter, are given. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed GSA based filter modeling, different sets of initial population with the presence of different measurable noises are given and tested in simulations. Genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are also used to model the same examples and some simulation results are compared. Obtained results confirm the efficiency of the proposed method.     

An effective heuristic algorithm for the maximum satisfiability problem

Stochastic local search algorithms (SLS) have been increasingly applied to approximate solutions of the weighted maximum satisfiability problem (MAXSAT), a model for solutions of major problems in AI and combinatorial optimization. While MAXSAT instances have generally a strong intrinsic dependency between their variables, most of SLS algorithms start the search process with a random initial solution where the value of each variable is generated independently with the same uniform distribution. In this paper, we propose a new SLS algorithm for MAXSAT based on an unconventional distribution known as the Bose-Einstein distribution in quantum physics. It provides a stochastic initialization scheme to an efficient and very simple heuristic inspired by the co-evolution process of natural species and called Extremal Optimization (EO). This heuristic was introduced for finding high quality solutions to hard optimization problems such as colouring and partitioning. We examine the effectiveness of the resulting algorithm by computational experiments on a large set of test instances and compare it with some of the most powerful existing algorithms. Our results are remarkable and show that this approach is appropriate for this class of problems.     

Improved methods f or scheduling flexible manufacturing systems based on Pet ri nets and heuristic search

This paper proposes and evaluates two improved Petri net (PN) - based hybrid search strategies and their applications to flexible manufacturing system (FMS) scheduling. The algorithms proposed in some previous papers ,which combine PN simulation capabilities with A 3 heuristic search within the PN reachability graph ,may not find an optimum solution even with an admissible heuristic function. To remedy the defects an improved heuristic search strategy is proposed ,which adopts a different method for selecting the promising markings and reserves the admissibility of the algorithm. To speed up the search process ,another algorithm is also proposed which invokes faster termination conditions and still guarantees that the solution found is optimum. The scheduling results are compared through a simple FMS between our algorithms and the previous methods. They are also applied and evaluated in a set of randomly- generated FMSs with such characteristics as multiple resources and alternative routes.     

A novel two-phase heuristic method for vehicle routing problem with backhauls

This paper raises a novel two-phase heuristic method to solve vehicle routing problems with backhauls. Differing from other vehicle routing problems, we consider the travel speed of vehicle to be time dependent, which will be used for the model of rush hour in an urban city. In the first phase, the original solution is generated by extending traditional heuristic methods and in the second phase, the reactive tabu search algorithm is used to optimize the original solution. We verified that this algorithm is efficient in a number of standard test cases. After comparison with the closest neighboring search algorithm, we found that the results of two-phase heuristic methods are more reasonable.     

Deadlock-free scheduling for flexible manufacturing systems using Petri nets and heuristic search

Deadlock-free control and scheduling are two different problems for flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs). They are significant for improving the behaviors of the systems. Based on the Petri net models of FMSs, this paper embeds deadlock control policies into heuristic search algorithm, and proposes a deadlock-free scheduling algorithm to minimize makespan for FMSs. Scheduling is performed as heuristic search in the reachability graph of the Petri net. The searching process is guided by a heuristic function based on firing count vectors of state equation for the Petri net. By using the one-step look-ahead method in the optimal deadlock control policy, the safety of a state is checked. Experimental results are provided to show effectiveness of the proposed heuristic search approach in deadlock-free scheduling for FMSs.     

A genetic algorithm with the heuristic procedure to solve the multi-line layout problem

The paper presents a genetic algorithm-based meta-heuristic to solve the facility layout problem (FLP) in a manufacturing system, where the material flow pattern of the multi-line layout is considered with the multi-products. The matrix encoding technique has been used for the chromosomes under the objective of minimizing the total material handling cost. The proposed algorithm produces a table with the descending order of the data corresponding to the input values of the flow and cost data. The generated table is used to create a schematic representation of the facilities, which in turn is utilized to heuristically generate the initial population of the chromosomes and to handle the heuristic crossover and mutation operators. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm has been proved through solving the two examples with the total cost less than the other genetic algorithms, CRAFT algorithm, and entropy-based algorithm.     

A new heuristic algorithm for rectangle packing

The rectangle packing problem often appears in encasement and cutting as well as very large-scale integration design. To solve this problem, many algorithms such as genetic algorithm, simulated annealing and other heuristic algorithms have been proposed. In this paper, a new heuristic algorithm is recommended based on two important concepts, namely, the corner-occupying action and caving degree. Twenty-one rectangle-packing instances are tested by the algorithm developed, 16 of which having achieved optimum solutions within reasonable runtime. Experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm developed is fairly efficient for solving the rectangle packing problem.