Solving nesting problems with non-convex polygons by constraint logic programming

In this paper an application of constraint logic programming (CLP) to the resolution of nesting problems is presented. Nesting problems are a special case of the cutting and packing problems, in which the pieces generally have non‐convex shapes. Because of their combinatorial optimization nature, nesting problems have traditionally been tackled by heuristics and in the recent past by meta‐heuristics. When trying to formulate nesting problems as linear programming models, to achieve global optimal solutions, the difficulty of dealing with the disjunction of constraints arises. On the contrary, CLP deals easily with this type of relationships among constraints. A CLP implementation for the nesting problem is described for convex and non‐convex shapes. The concept of nofit polygon is used to deal with the geometric constraints inherent to all cutting and packing problems. Computational results are presented.     

The progressive party problem: Integer linear programming and constraint programming compared

Many discrete optimization problems can be formulated as either integer linear programming problems or constraint satisfaction problems. Although ILP methods appear to be more powerful, sometimes constraint programming can solve these problems more quickly. This paper describes a problem in which the difference in performance between the two approaches was particularly marked, since a solution could not be found using ILP.The problem arose in the context of organizing a progressive party at a yachting rally. Some yachts were to be designated hosts; the crews of the remaining yachts would then visit the hosts for six successive half-hour periods. A guest crew could not revisit the same host, and two guest crews could not meet more than once. Additional constraints were imposed by the capacities of the host yachts and the crew sizes of the guests.Integer linear programming formulations which included all the constraints resulted in very large models, and despite trying several different strategies, all attempts to find a solution failed. Constraint programming was tried instead and solved the problem very quickly, with a little manual assistance. Reasons for the success of constraint programming in this problem are identified and discussed.     

基于约束逻辑规划和遗传算法的柔性调度

根据柔性生产环境的特点，描述了约束逻辑规划（CLP）和遗传算法（GA）在解决调度问题中的应用框架。CLP的解决作为满足约束的调度问题的起始解，保证了初始解的合理性。把CLP用作计算每一代样本的约束检验手段，有利于在遗传算法的搜索中获得更好的解和更高的解算效率。最后对一个规模足够大的调度实例进行了计算。     

Application of constraint logic programming to asset and liability management in banks

Constraint logic programming is a relatively new and promising paradigm. In this paper it is shown that this approach yields flexible tools to support financial decision making. As an example we present an asset and liability management model implemented in the CHIP language.     

A different paradigm for expert systems: an introduction to logic programming and related knowledge representation issues

Abstract: Current expert system technology is 30 years old. Expert system shells find their origins in the work of early expert systems, most notably MYCIN which was developed at Stanford in the mid-1970s. Even Prolog programmers are settling for less robust reasoning power. The logic programming community (from which both expert systems and Prolog arose) has made notable advances since those times. These advances are lacking from current expert system technology. The advances include a well-developed theory of multiple forms of negation, an understanding of open domains and the closed world assumption, default reasoning with exceptions, reasoning with respect to time (i.e. a solution to the frame problem, and introspection with regard to previous beliefs), reasoning about actions, introspection, and maintaining multiple views of the world simultaneously.
The contribution of this paper is to discuss these developments in a singular, integrated, practical, digestible manner. Some of these ideas exist in a variety of papers spread across decades. They also exist in the minds of a very small community of researchers. Some of these ideas are unpublished. The presentation in this paper is from a different point of view, and intended to be more comprehensive and pedagogical. The presentation is also intended to be accessible to a much wider audience. Both the synthesis and the simplicity of this presentation are absent from the literature.     

A Meta-representation for Integrating Operational Research and Artificial Intelligence in an Intelligent Decision Support Paradigm

Operational research (OR) and artificial intelligence (AI) models are primary contributors to the area of intelligent decision support systems (IDSS). Constraint logic programming (CLP) has been used successfully to substantiate the integration of OR and AI. We present a meta-level modular representation for integrating OR and AI models using CLP in an IDSS framework. The use of this representation is illustrated using a CLP-like meta-language, and the potential usefulness of this language is demonstrated using an example from the dairy industry.     

New lower bounds based on column generation and constraint programming for the pattern minimization problem

The pattern minimization problem is a cutting and packing problem that consists in finding a cutting plan with the minimum number of different patterns. This objective may be relevant when changing from one pattern to another involves a cost for setting up the cutting machine. When the minimization of the number of different patterns is done by assuming that no more than the minimum number of rolls can be used, the problem is also referred to as the cutting stock problem with setup costs.     

Decremental state space relaxation strategies and initialization heuristics for solving the Orienteering Problem with Time Windows with dynamic programming

We present an exact optimization algorithm for the Orienteering Problem with Time Windows (OPTW). The algorithm is based on bi-directional and bounded dynamic programming with decremental state space relaxation. We compare different strategies proposed in the literature to guide decremental state space relaxation: our experiments on instances derived from the literature show that there is no dominance between these strategies. We also propose a new heuristic technique to initialize the critical vertex set and we provide experimental evidence of its effectiveness.