Importance

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Abstract

A framework for routing and scheduling a fleet of vehicles for servicing a set of requests with narrow time windows that minimizes the total waiting time of the vehicles is provided. In accordance with one aspect, a set of requests associated with narrow time windows for delivering items is received, and route representations representing fleet routes for delivering items for the requests by a fleet of vehicles are generated. A route representation contains numbered nodes, where a unique node number is assigned to a request in the set of request, and each node is assigned with a vehicle number that services the request A sequence of the nodes in the route representation provides an order for servicing the set of requests at the destination locations of the requests by the vehicles in the fleet. Selection, specific crossover and mutation operations are performed iteratively on the route representations to increase feasibility of the route representations. The route representation with the least total waiting time for all the vehicles in the fleet in servicing the delivery requests is output as the optimal solution.

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First Claim