A polarized adaptive schedule generation scheme for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

Building 39, SISAT, Faculty of Informatics, Wollongong University, Wollongong, 2522 NSW, Australia
reza@uow.edu.au

Received: 22 December 2010
Accepted: 12 March 2012

Abstract

This paper presents a hybrid schedule generation scheme for solving the resource-constrained project scheduling problem. The scheme, which is called the Polarized Adaptive Scheduling Scheme (PASS), can operate in a spectrum between two poles, namely the parallel and serial schedule generation schemes. A polarizer parameter in the range between zero and one indicates how similarly the PASS behaves like each of its two poles. The presented hybrid is incorporated into a novel genetic algorithm that never degenerates, resulting in an effective self-adaptive procedure. The key point of this genetic algorithm is the embedding of the polarizer parameter as a gene in the genomes used. Through this embedding, the procedure learns via monitoring its own performance and incorporates this knowledge in conducting the search process. The computational experiments indicate that the procedure can produce optimal solutions for a large percentage of benchmark instances.