The Matching Lego(R)-Like Bricks Problem: A Metaheuristic Approach

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleInvitedpeer-review

Abstract

We formulate and transform a real-world combinatorial problem into a constraint satisfaction problem: choose a restricted set of containers from a warehouse, such that the elements contained in the containers satisfy some restrictions and compatibility criteria. We set up a formal, mathematical model, describe the combinatorial problem and define a (nonlinear) system of equations, which describes the equivalent constraint satisfaction problem. Next, we use the framework provided by the Apache Commons Mathematics Library in order to implement a solution based on genetic algorithms. We carry out performance tests and show that a general approach, having business logic solely in the definition of the fitness function, can deliver satisfactory results for a real-world use case in the manufacturing industry. To conclude, we use the possibilities offered by the jMetal framework to extend the use case to multi-objective optimization and and compare different heuristic algorithms predefined in jMetal applied to our use case.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)160-181
Number of pages22
JournalInternational Journal on Advances in Software / IARIA
Volume13
Issue number3&4
Publication statusPublished - 30 Dec 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0009-0009-9342-629X/work/193863859

Keywords

Keywords

  • Constraint satisfaction problem, Combinatorial problem, Genetic algorithm, Crossover, Mutation, Multi-objective optimization, Apache Commons Math., jMetal