July 29, 2019 Vehicle Routing Problem – Upcoming Marathon Matches

The vehicle routing problem (VRP) is a combinatorial optimization and integer programming problem which asks “What is the optimal set of routes for a fleet of vehicles to traverse in order to deliver to a given set of customers?“. It generalises the well-known travelling salesman problem (TSP).

– WIKIPEDIA

Sounds interesting right? What’s more interesting is this: we have two upcoming Marathon Matches related to the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP).

Topcoder is working on solving the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) among combinatorial optimization problems inherent in complex and large-scale social systems. We are looking to the Topcoder community for a compelling, affordable solution with real-world application that will benefit our prestigious client.

Here are the links to the two Marathon Matches with more complex problem settings/restrictions and additional conditions, such as warehouse’s demand growth rates. The first match begins on August 2, 09:00 UTC -4:

The 2nd Vehicle Routing Problem Mini Marathon Challenge
– Total prizes: $8,000
– Schedule: August 2, 2019 09:00 UTC -4 – August 18, 2019 at 23:00 UTC -4

The 3rd Vehicle Routing Problem Mini Marathon Challenge
– Total prizes: $8,000
– Schedule: August 30, 2019 09:00 UTC -4 – September 15, 2019 at 23:00 UTC -4

To give you some background on the problem we are tackling, take a look at the challenges we have previously run in this series:

Part-1 VRP Problem / Solver Characteristics Analysis

In this challenge, participants were asked to figure out the limitations of known solver(s). The purpose of this challenge was to analyze obstacles we may encounter when trying to solve the VRP problem using general solvers, and provide detailed analysis on these obstacles (top priority) and propose potential solutions (lower priority). 

Part-2 Vehicle Routing Problem — Relay Warehouse Challenge

In this challenge, participants were asked for reports discussing when using “relay warehouse” will lead to a better solution in the vehicle routing problem (VRP) to minimize the total operating cost of trucks for 10 days. Participants had to conduct an analysis based on a small dataset and derive rules and conclusions. Here we considered a solution to minimize the 10-day truck total operating cost by introducing a “relay warehouse” with custom made or generic solver(s).

Part-3 Vehicle Routing Problem — Relay Warehouse Challenge

In this challenge, participants were asked for reports discussing when using “relay warehouse” will lead to a better solution in the vehicle routing problem (VRP) to minimize the total cost for 7300 days (20 years). Participants had to conduct an analysis based on a small dataset and derive rules and conclusions. 

Part-4 Vehicle Routing Problem: Relay Warehouse Mini Marathon Challenge

In this challenge, participants were asked for solutions for the vehicle routing problem (VRP) to minimize the total cost for 7300 days (20 years). Participants were given 7 datasets and they had to come up with a feasible schedule for every dataset and minimize the cost as much as possible.

The new matches start soon so register using the links above and get ready to compete on these interesting problems.

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