Hybridising plant propagation and local search for uncapacitated exam scheduling problems
by Meryem Cheraitia; Salim Haddadi; Abdellah Salhi
International Journal of Services and Operations Management (IJSOM), Vol. 32, No. 4, 2019

Abstract: The uncapacitated exam scheduling problem (UESP) is a well-known computationally intractable combinatorial optimisation problem. It aims at assigning exams to a predefined number of periods, avoiding conflicts over the same period, and spreading exams as evenly as possible. Here, we suggest a new hybrid algorithm combining the plant propagation algorithm (PPA) and local search (LS) for it. PPA is a population-based metaheuristic that mimics the way plants propagate. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this idea is exploited in the context of UESP. Extensive testing on the University of Toronto benchmark dataset, and comparison against a large number of new as well as well-established methods shows that this new metaheuristic is competitive and represents a substantial addition to the arsenal of tools for solving the problem.

Online publication date: Tue, 07-May-2019

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Services and Operations Management (IJSOM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com