Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms for Resource Allocation Problems

The inadequacy of classical methods to handle resource allocation problems (RAPs) draw the attention of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) to these problems. The potentialities of EAs are exploited in the present work for handling two such RAPs of quite different natures, namely (1) university class timetabling problem and (2) land-use management problem. In many cases, these problems are over-simplified by ignoring many important aspects, such as different types of constraints and multiple objective functions. In the present work, two EA-based multi-objective optimizers are developed for handling these two problems by considering various aspects that are common to most of their variants. Finally, the similarities between the problems, and also between their solution techniques, are analyzed through the application of the developed optimizers on two real problems.

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