Distributing tasks in committees: An algorithmic research in a cooperative game theory problem

Cooperative game theory studies multi-agent environments where agents are able to make binding agreements. A lot has been written about dividing goods or other positive gains among the agents. This study investigates ways to distribute tasks with a negative utility in a strategyproof way. The intended application is a group of people or...

A Guide to Solving Pathfinding Problems with Multiple Agents

Currently, literature regarding Multiagent Path Finding (MAPF) does not give a broad enough overview of all the different approaches. Many papers are hard to read and require proper knowledge of MAPF. The goal of this report is to give a global overview of MAPF. To achieve this goal, we provide a detailed explanation of what MAPF problems look...

Optimising District Heating Operations

District heating systems (DHS) are considered the best alternative to individual heat boilers as they have higher efficiency and enable the use of sustainable heat sources, like geothermal heat sources or waste heat from industry. Currently, most DHSs are operated by choosing a temperature once every day depending on the weather. This setting is...

Encoding OAS: Solving order acceptance and scheduling with modified black box approaches

In many real world scheduling problems there exist hard deadlines after which tasks can no longer be performed. Conversely, not all tasks are necessarily required to be scheduled. Furthermore, the problem investigated in this thesis includes sequence dependent setup times, an aspect reminiscent of the Travelling Salesperson problem. These...

The Complexity of Stability: In Parallel Processor Scheduling

In dynamic scheduling, some of the information about the scheduling problem is learnt during the execution of the schedule. Because of this, creating a low cost schedule that does not have to be changed is impossible in most cases. When changes are made during the execution, focussing solely on the performance of the schedule may result in very...

Algorithms for a bounded-width order acceptance and scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup time using decision diagrams

Order acceptance and scheduling problems (OAS) is a category of problems where the decision of which jobs to schedule and how to schedule them is intertwined. Decision diagrams have in recent years become a popular method of finding bounds for scheduling problems. However, their use in problems where orders can also be rejected has not yet been...

A Robust Solution to Train Shunting using Decision Trees

This research tackles the Train Unit Shunting Problem (TUSP) in train maintenance service sites. Many researches focus on producing feasible solutions, but only a few of them concentrate on the robustness of solutions. In reality, it is preferred to generate robust plans against unpredictable disturbances. Besides, the approach is expected to...

Solving Train Maintenance Scheduling Problem with Neural Networks and Tree Search

The Train Maintenance Scheduling Problem (TMSP) is a real-world problem that aims at complete maintenance tasks of trains by scheduling their activities on a service site. Common methods of constructing optimal solutions to this problem are difficult as the problem consists of several highly-related sub-problems. Currently, NS is using a lo- cal...

Analyzing location-specific error patterns in train data

Through the years, companies have been exploring the field of data science. The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is not an exception to this. Modern trains are equipped with sensors that measure a variety of conditions within the train. This data is being stored in their data warehouse. This data has been proven useful for detection and response...

Improving RCPSP algorithms using machine learning methods

For performing technical maintenance, it is important to keep a detailed schedule of resources and temporal constraints. The Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP) is a well de- fined scheduling model with both resources and temporal constraints. Precedence Constraint Posting (PCP) is a technique to solve the NP-hard RCPSP...

Evaluating Multiparty Multilateral Turn-Taking Negotiation Protocols

In order to be accepted by negotiating parties, negotiation protocols need to be fair and unbiased. We extend the bilateral turn-taking negotiation protocol to multiparty multilateral turn-taking peer negotiation protocols maintaining its fairness properties. We define the de- sign space of such protocols and capture the design decisions that go...

Public transport route planning with preferences

Reducing the need for communication in wireless sensor networks using machine learning and planning techniques

Wireless sensor networks are commonly used to remotely and automatically monitor environments.<br/>One of the main challenges in wireless sensor networks is to use the limited available energy as efficiently as possible, to ensure longevity of the network. For such networks to survive their intended deployment period no energy may be wasted on...

Support for Human Planners: Scheduling and Visualisation

West IT Solutions is expanding into a new focus area, ”Smart Planning”. They want to develop new modules for the Enterprise Resource Planning software they resell, Odoo. Odoo allows companies to manage their projects, employees and other resources. The goal of this project was to create a software product that assists users in creating plannings...