The capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) involves distributing (identical) items from a depot to a set of demand locations, using a single capacitated vehicle. We study a generalization of this problem to the setting of multiple vehicles having non-uniform speeds (that we call Heterogenous CVRP), and present a constant-factor approximation algorithm.
The technical heart of our result lies in achieving a constant approximation to the following TSP variant (called Heterogenous TSP). Given a metric denoting distances between vertices, a depot r containing k vehicles with possibly different speeds, the goal is to find a tour for each vehicle (starting and ending at r), so that every vertex is covered in some tour and the maximum completion time is minimized. This problem is precisely Heterogenous CVRP when vehicles are uncapacitated.
The presence of non-uniform speeds introduces difficulties for employing standard tour-splitting techniques. In order to get a better understanding of this technique in our context, we appeal to ideas from the 2-approximation for scheduling in parallel machine of Lenstra et al.. This motivates the introduction of a new approximate MST construction called Level-Prim, which is related to Light Approximate Shortest-path Trees. The last component of our algorithm involves partitioning the Level-Prim tree and matching the resulting parts to vehicles. This decomposition is more subtle than usual since now we need to enforce correlation between the size of the parts and their distances to the depot.
We give a polynomial time approximation scheme (PTAS) for the unit demand capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) on trees, for the entire range of the tour capacity. The result extends to the splittable CVRP.
Given a set of clients with demands, the Capacitated Vehicle Routing problem is to find a set of tours that collectively cover all client demand, such that the capacity of each vehicle is not exceeded and such that the sum of the tour lengths is minimized. In this paper, we provide a 4/3-approximation algorithm for Capacitated Vehicle Routing on trees, improving over the previous best-known approximation ratio of $(\sqrt{41}-1)/4$ by Asano et al., while using the same lower bound. Asano et al. show that there exist instances whose optimal cost is 4/3 times this lower bound. Notably, our 4/3 ap…
We study the capacitated vehicle routing problem in graphic metrics (graphic CVRP). Our main contribution is a new lower bound on the cost of an optimal solution. For graphic metrics, this lower bound is tight and significantly stronger than the well-known bound for general metrics. The proof of the new lower bound is simple and combinatorial. Using this lower bound, we analyze the approximation ratio of the classical iterated tour partitioning algorithm combined with the TSP algorithms for graphic metrics of Christofides [1976], of Mömke-Svensson [JACM 2016], and of Sebő-Vygen [Combinatorica …
We devise a new approximation algorithm for capacitated vehicle routing. Our algorithm yields a better approximation ratio for general capacitated vehicle routing as well as for the unit-demand case and the splittable variant. Our results hold in arbitrary metric spaces. This is the first improvement upon the classical tour partitioning algorithm by Haimovich and Rinnooy Kan and Altinkemer and Gavish.
In the unsplittable capacitated vehicle routing problem, we are given a metric space with a vertex called depot and a set of vertices called terminals. Each terminal is associated with a positive demand between 0 and 1. The goal is to find a minimum length collection of tours starting and ending at the depot such that the demand of each terminal is covered by a single tour (i.e., the demand cannot be split), and the total demand of the terminals in each tour does not exceed the capacity of 1. Our main result is a polynomial-time $(2+ε)$-approximation algorithm for this problem in the two-dimen…
We study a location-routing problem in the context of capacitated vehicle routing. The input is a set of demand locations in a metric space and a fleet of k vehicles each of capacity Q. The objective is to locate k depots, one for each vehicle, and compute routes for the vehicles so that all demands are satisfied and the total cost is minimized. Our main result is a constant-factor approximation algorithm for this problem. To achieve this result, we reduce to the k-median-forest problem, which generalizes both k-median and minimum spanning tree, and which might be of independent interest. We g…
In the capacitated vehicle routing problem, introduced by Dantzig and Ramser in 1959, we are given the locations of n customers and a depot, along with a vehicle of capacity k, and wish to find a minimum length collection of tours, each starting from the depot and visiting at most k customers, whose union covers all the customers. We give a quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme for the setting where the customers and the depot are on the plane, and distances are given by the Euclidean metric.
We give a probabilistic analysis of the unit-demand Euclidean capacitated vehicle routing problem in the random setting, where the input distribution consists of $n$ unit-demand customers modeled as independent, identically distributed uniform random points in the two-dimensional plane. The objective is to visit every customer using a set of routes of minimum total length, such that each route visits at most $k$ customers, where $k$ is the capacity of a vehicle. All of the following results are in the random setting and hold asymptotically almost surely. The best known polynomial-time approxim…
This paper attempts to solve the famous Vehicle Routing Problem by considering multiple constraints including capacitated vehicles, single depot, and distance using two approaches namely, cluster first and route the second algorithm and using integer linear programming. A set of nodes are provided as input to the system and a feasible route is generated as output, giving clusters of nodes and the route to be traveled within the cluster. For clustering the nodes, we have adopted the DBSCAN algorithm, and the routing is done using the approximation algorithm, Christofide's algorithm. The solutio…
We study problems that integrate depot location decisions along with the inventory routing problem of serving clients from these depots over time balancing the costs of routing vehicles from the depots with the holding costs of demand delivered before they are due. Since the inventory routing problem is already complex, we study the version that assumes that the daily vehicle routes are direct connections from the depot thus forming stars as solutions, and call this problem the Star Inventory Routing Problem with Facility Location (SIRPFL). As a stepping stone to solving SIRPFL, we first study…
In the unsplittable capacitated vehicle routing problem (UCVRP) on trees, we are given a rooted tree with edge weights and a subset of vertices of the tree called terminals. Each terminal is associated with a positive demand between 0 and 1. The goal is to find a minimum length collection of tours starting and ending at the root of the tree such that the demand of each terminal is covered by a single tour (i.e., the demand cannot be split), and the total demand of the terminals in each tour does not exceed the capacity of 1. For the special case when all terminals have equal demands, a long li…
The capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with structured Time Windows (cVRPsTW) is concerned with finding optimal tours for vehicles with given capacity constraints to deliver goods to customers within assigned time windows. In our problem variant these time windows have a special structure, namely they are non-overlapping and each time window holds several customers. This is a reasonable assumption for Attended Home Delivery services. Sweep algorithms are known as simple, yet effective heuristics for the classical capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem. We propose variants of the sweep algorithm …
The Split algorithm is an essential building block of route-first cluster-second heuristics and modern genetic algorithms for vehicle routing problems. The algorithm is used to partition a solution, represented as a giant tour without occurrences of the depot, into separate routes with minimum cost. As highlighted by the recent survey of [Prins, Lacomme and Prodhon, Transport Res. C (40), 179-200], no less than 70 recent articles use this technique. In the vehicle routing literature, Split is usually assimilated to the search for a shortest path in a directed acyclic graph $\mathcal{G}$ and so…
Given an undirected graph with edge costs and edge demands, the Capacitated Arc Routing problem (CARP) asks for minimum-cost routes for equal-capacity vehicles so as to satisfy all demands. Constant-factor polynomial-time approximation algorithms were proposed for CARP with triangle inequality, while CARP was claimed to be NP-hard to approximate within any constant factor in general. Correcting this claim, we show that any factor α approximation for CARP with triangle inequality yields a factor α approximation for the general CARP.
We study the load balanced capacitated vehicle routing problem (LBCVRP): the problem is to design a collection of tours for a fixed fleet of vehicles with capacity Q to distribute a supply from a single depot between a number of predefined clients, in a way that the total traveling cost is a minimum, and the vehicle loads are balanced. The unbalanced loads cause the decrease of distribution quality especially in business environments and exibility in the logistics activities. The problem being NP-hard, we propose two approximation algorithms. When the demands are equal, we present a (1-1/Q)p+3…
School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey（蒙特雷理工学院工程与科学学院）
The Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem is a well-known NP-hard problem that poses the challenge of finding the optimal route of a vehicle delivering products to multiple locations. Recently, new efforts have emerged to create constructive and perturbative heuristics to tackle this problem using Deep Learning. In this paper, we join these efforts to develop the Combined Deep Constructor and Perturbator, which combines two powerful constructive and perturbative Deep Learning-based heuristics, using attention mechanisms at their core. Furthermore, we improve the Attention Model-Dynamic for the C…
In this paper, we present Approximation Schemes for Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) on several classes of graphs. In CVRP, introduced by Dantzig and Ramser (1959), we are given a graph $G=(V,E)$ with metric edges costs, a depot $r\in V$, and a vehicle of bounded capacity $Q$. The goal is to find minimum cost collection of tours for the vehicle that returns to the depot, each visiting at most $Q$ nodes, such that they cover all the nodes. This generalizes classic TSP and has been studied extensively. In the more general setting, each node $v$ has a demand $d_v$ and the total demand o…
This study presents a novel approach to the vehicle routing problem by focusing on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption aiming to mitigate adverse environmental effects of transportation. A time-dependent model with time windows is developed to incorporate speed and schedule in transportation. The model considers speed limits for different times of the day in a realistic delivery context. Due to the complexity of solving the model, a simulated annealing algorithm is proposed to find solutions with high quality in a timely manner. Our method can be used in practice to lower fuel consum…
We prove that any polynomial-time $α(n)$-approximation algorithm for the $n$-vertex metric asymmetric Traveling Salesperson Problem yields a polynomial-time $O(α(C))$-approximation algorithm for the mixed and windy Capacitated Arc Routing Problem, where $C$ is the number of weakly connected components in the subgraph induced by the positive-demand arcs---a small number in many applications. In conjunction with known results, we obtain constant-factor approximations for $C\in O(\log n)$ and $O(\log C/\log\log C)$-approximations in general. Experiments show that our algorithm, together with seve…
Ready Mixed Concrete Delivery Problem (RMCDP) is a multi-objective multi-constraint dynamic combinatorial optimization problem. From the operational research prospective, it is a real life logistic problem that is hard to be solved with large instances. In RMCDP, there is a need to optimize the Ready Mixed Concrete ( RMC) delivery by predetermining an optimal schedule for the sites-trips assignments that adheres to strict time, distance, and capacity constraints. This optimization process is subjected to a domain of objectives ranging from achieving maximum revenue to minimizing the operationa…
We study the problem of routing on disjoint paths in bounded treewidth graphs with both edge and node capacities. The input consists of a capacitated graph $G$ and a collection of $k$ source-destination pairs $\mathcal{M} = \{(s_1, t_1), \dots, (s_k, t_k)\}$. The goal is to maximize the number of pairs that can be routed subject to the capacities in the graph. A routing of a subset $\mathcal{M}'$ of the pairs is a collection $\mathcal{P}$ of paths such that, for each pair $(s_i, t_i) \in \mathcal{M}'$, there is a path in $\mathcal{P}$ connecting $s_i$ to $t_i$. In the Maximum Edge Disjoint Pat…
We develop a general framework for designing polynomial-time approximation schemes (PTASs) for various vehicle routing problems in trees. In these problems, the goal is to optimally route a fleet of vehicles, originating at a depot, to serve a set of clients, subject to various constraints. For example, in Minimum Makespan Vehicle Routing, the number of vehicles is fixed, and the objective is to minimize the longest distance traveled by a single vehicle. Our main insight is that we can often greatly restrict the set of potential solutions without adding too much to the optimal solution cost. T…
The Capacitated Vehicle Routing problem is to find a minimum-cost set of tours that collectively cover clients in a graph, such that each tour starts and ends at a specified depot and is subject to a capacity bound on the number of clients it can serve. In this paper, we present a polynomial-time approximation scheme (PTAS) for instances in which the input graph is planar and the capacity is bounded. Previously, only a quasipolynomial-time approximation scheme was known for these instances. To obtain this result, we show how to embed planar graphs into bounded-treewidth graphs while preserving…
We present the first near optimal approximation schemes for the maximum weighted (uncapacitated or capacitated) $b$--matching problems for non-bipartite graphs that run in time (near) linear in the number of edges. For any $δ>3/\sqrt{n}$ the algorithm produces a $(1-δ)$ approximation in $O(m \poly(δ^{-1},\log n))$ time. We provide fractional solutions for the standard linear programming formulations for these problems and subsequently also provide (near) linear time approximation schemes for rounding the fractional solutions. Through these problems as a vehicle, we also present several ideas i…
We consider a multiple depot, multiple vehicle routing problem with fuel constraints. We are given a set of targets, a set of depots and a set of homogeneous vehicles, one for each depot. The depots are also allowed to act as refueling stations. The vehicles are allowed to refuel at any depot, and our objective is to determine a route for each vehicle with a minimum total cost such that each target is visited at least once by some vehicle, and the vehicles never run out fuel as it traverses its route. We refer this problem as Multiple Depot, Fuel-Constrained, Multiple Vehicle Routing Problem (…
We consider the vehicle routing problem with stochastic demands (VRPSD) on tree structured networks with a single depot. The problem we are concerned with in this paper is to find a set of tours for the vehicle with minimum expected length. Every tour begins at the depot, visits a subset of customers and returns to the depot without violating the capacity constraint. Randomized approximation algorithm achieving approximation guarantees of 2 for split-delivery VRPSD, and 3 for un-split delivery VRPSD are obtained.
We consider the Maximum-Profit Routing Problem (MPRP), a variant of pick-up routing problem introduced in \cite{Armaselu-arXiv-2016, Armaselu-PETRA}, in which the goal is to maximize total profit. The original MPRP restricts vehicles to visit a site at most once. In this paper, we consider extensions of MPRP, in which a site may be visited by a vehicle multiple times. Specifically, we consider two versions: one in which the quantity to be picked up at each site is constant in time (MPRP-M), and one with time-varying supplied quantities, which increase linearly in time (MPRP-VS). For each of th…
This paper addresses a new vehicle routing problem that simultaneously involves time windows, split collection and linear weight-related cost, which is a generalization of the split delivery vehicle routing problem with time windows (SDVRPTW). This problem consists of determining least-cost vehicle routes to serve a set of customers while respecting the restrictions of vehicle capacity and time windows. The travel cost per unit distance is a linear function of the vehicle weight and the customer demand can be fulfilled by multiple vehicles. To solve this problem, we propose a exact branch-and-…
In the \textsc{Waypoint Routing Problem} one is given an undirected capacitated and weighted graph $G$, a source-destination pair $s,t\in V(G)$ and a set $W\subseteq V(G)$, of \emph{waypoints}. The task is to find a walk which starts at the source vertex $s$, visits, in any order, all waypoints, ends at the destination vertex $t$, respects edge capacities, that is, traverses each edge at most as many times as is its capacity, and minimizes the cost computed as the sum of costs of traversed edges with multiplicities. We study the problem for graphs of bounded treewidth and present a new algorit…
We consider a single Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) routing problem where there are multiple depots and the vehicle is allowed to refuel at any depot. The objective of the problem is to find a path for the UAV such that each target is visited at least once by the vehicle, the fuel constraint is never violated along the path for the UAV, and the total fuel required by the UAV is a minimum. We develop an approximation algorithm for the problem, and propose fast construction and improvement heuristics to solve the same. Computational results show that solutions whose costs are on an average within…
We consider the problem of accelerating column generation (CG) for logistics optimization problems using vehicle routing as an example. Without loss of generality, we focus on the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) via the addition of a new class of dual optimal inequalities (DOI) that incorporate information about detours from the vehicle routes. These inequalities extend the Smooth-DOI recently introduced in the literature for the solution of certain classes of set-covering problems by CG. The Detour-DOI introduced in this article permit low cost swap operations between items on a gi…
In this paper we consider a 2-vehicle routing problem which can be viewed as a building block for the varieties of the vehicle routing problems (VRPs). To approach this problem, we suggest a framework based on the Held and Karp dynamic programming algorithm for the classical travelling salesman problem. An algorithm based on this framework shows an exceptionally good performance on published test data. Our approach can be easily extended to a variety of constraints/attributes in the VRP, hence the wording "small but rich" in the title of our paper.
We present a set of new instances of the maximum weight independent set problem. These instances are derived from a real-world vehicle routing problem and are challenging to solve in part because of their large size. We present instances with up to 881 thousand nodes and 383 million edges.
We introduce BROUTE, a benchmark suite for vehicle routing optimization algorithms. We define a selection of algorithms traditionally used in vehicle routing optimization. They capture essential features that are also relevant in optimization algorithms for different application domains, like local search move evaluation, memory allocation, dynamic programming, or insertion and deletion from a list. Each algorithm is deterministic. We implement these benchmark algorithms using a selection of programming languages and different data structures. BROUTE is free, open-source, and can be used to in…
Optimization of on-demand transportation systems and ride-sharing services involves solving a class of complex vehicle routing problems with pickup and delivery with time windows (VRPPDTW). This paper first proposes a new time-discretized multi-commodity network flow model for the VRPPDTW based on the integration of vehicles carrying states within space-time transportation networks, so as to allow a joint optimization of passenger-to-vehicle assignment and turn-by-turn routing in congested transportation networks. Our three-dimensional state-space-time network construct is able to comprehensiv…
We study the strategic decision-making problem of assigning time windows to customers in the context of vehicle routing applications that are affected by operational uncertainty. This problem, known as the Time Window Assignment Vehicle Routing Problem, can be viewed as a two-stage stochastic optimization problem, where time window assignments constitute first-stage decisions, vehicle routes adhering to the assigned time windows constitute second-stage decisions, and the objective is to minimize the expected routing costs. We prove that a sampled deterministic equivalent of this stochastic mod…
We consider vehicle-routing problems (VRPs) that incorporate the notion of {\em regret} of a client, which is a measure of the waiting time of a client relative to its shortest-path distance from the depot. Formally, we consider both the additive and multiplicative versions of, what we call, the {\em regret-bounded vehicle routing problem} (RVRP). In these problems, we are given an undirected complete graph $G=(\{r\}\cup V,E)$ on $n$ nodes with a distinguished root (depot) node $r$, edge costs $\{c_{uv}\}$ that form a metric, and a regret bound $R$. Given a path $P$ rooted at $r$ and a node $v…
We investigate the Robust Multiperiod Network Design Problem, a generalization of the Capacitated Network Design Problem (CNDP) that, besides establishing flow routing and network capacity installation as in a canonical CNDP, also considers a planning horizon made up of multiple time periods and protection against fluctuations in traffic volumes. As a remedy against traffic volume uncertainty, we propose a Robust Optimization model based on Multiband Robustness (Büsing and D'Andreagiovanni, 2012), a refinement of classical Gamma-Robustness by Bertsimas and Sim that uses a system of multiple de…
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro（里约热内卢天主教大学）；CIRRELT（企业网络、物流与运输跨大学研究中心）；HEC Montréal（蒙特利尔高等商学院）；University of Vienna（维也纳大学）
Vehicle routing problems have been the focus of extensive research over the past sixty years, driven by their economic importance and their theoretical interest. The diversity of applications has motivated the study of a myriad of problem variants with different attributes. In this article, we provide a concise overview of existing and emerging problem variants. Models are typically refined along three lines: considering more relevant objectives and performance metrics, integrating vehicle routing evaluations with other tactical decisions, and capturing fine-grained yet essential aspects of mo…
