Genetic algorithm for the problem of one-dimensional packing of objects

Dvoryankin Alexander Mikhailovich, Ibrahim Ismail Adamu

Genetic algorithms (GAs) are adaptive search algorithms inspired by the process of natural selection, which are useful for optimization purposes. These methods do not ensure exact optimal solution; however, they give good approximated sets of solutions in a short time compared to other kind of algorithms, which takes forever to solve a given problem. The genetic algorithms are useful for solving mostly NP-hard problems, especially the bin-packing problem. In this article, we used genetic algorithm to tackle the placement of loaded segment problem to find permutation of segments with minimum deviation from a given center of gravity. We should also note that this approach does not ensure exact optimal solution but we are sure to have an approximate solution and also it will serve as basis for comparisons with other approximate algorithms in the future.

Keywords:one-dimensional packing, force, loaded segments, genetic algorithm, chromosome, mutation, crossover, center of gravity.