Skip to main content

Solving the Set Covering Problem with a Binary Black Hole Inspired Algorithm

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 9786))

Abstract

There are multiple problems in several industries that can be solved with combinatorial optimization. In this sense, the Set Covering Problem is one of the most representative of them, being used in various branches of engineering and science, allowing find a set of solutions that meet the needs identified in the restrictions that have the lowest possible cost. This paper presents an algorithm inspired by binary black holes (BBH) to resolve known instances of SPC from the OR-Library. Also, it reproduces the behavior of black holes, using various operators to bring good solutions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Vasko, F., Wolf, F., Stott, K.: Optimal selection of ingot sizes via set covering. Oper. Res. 35(3), 346–353 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Desrochers, M., Soumis, F.: A column generation approach to the urban transit crew scheduling problem. Transp. Sci. 23(1), 1–13 (1989)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Bellmore, M., Ratliff, H.D.: Optimal defense of multi-commodity networks. Manage. Sci. 18(4–part–i), B-174 (1971)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. Garfinkel, R.S., Nemhauser, G.L.: Optimal political districting byimplicit enumeration techniques. Manage. Sci. 347, 267–276 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Amini, F., Ghaderi, P.: Hybridization of harmony search and ant colony optimization for optimal locating of structural dampers. Appl. Soft Comput. 13(5), 2272–2280 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Karp, R.: Reducibility among combinatorial problems (1972). http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~luca/cs172/karp.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  7. Hatamlou, A.: Black hole: a new heuristic optimization approach for data clustering. Inf. Sci. 222, 175–184 (2013)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. Ataim, P.: Resolución del problema de set-covering usando un algoritmo genético (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Wang, B.S.: Caro and Crawford, “Multi-objective robust optimization using a postoptimality sensitivity analysis technique: application to a wind turbine design”. J. Mech. Design 137(1), 11 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Crawford, B., Soto, R., Johnson, F., Paredes, F.: A timetabling applied case solved with ant colony optimization. In: Silhavy, R., Senkerik, R., Oplatkova, Z.K., Prokopova, Z., Silhavy, P. (eds.) Artificial Intelligence Perspectives and Applications. AISC, vol. 347, pp. 267–276. Springer, Heidelberg (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Marianov, R.: The queuing probabilistic location set coveringproblem and some extensions. Department of Electrical Engineering, PontificiaUniversidad Católica de Chile (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  12. ReVelle, C., Toregas, C., Falkson, L.: Applications of the location set-covering problem. Geog. Anal. 8(1), 65–76 (1976)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Walker, W.: Using the set-covering problem to assign fire companies to fire houses. The New York City-Rand Institute (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Crawford, B., Soto, R., Johnson, F., Misra, S., Paredes, F.: The use of metaheuristics to software project scheduling problem. In: Murgante, B., Misra, S., Rocha, A.M.A.C., Torre, C., Rocha, J.G., Falcão, M.I., Taniar, D., Apduhan, B.O., Gervasi, O. (eds.) ICCSA 2014, Part V. LNCS, vol. 8583, pp. 215–226. Springer, Heidelberg (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Soto, R., Crawford, B., Galleguillos, C., Barraza, J., Lizama, S., Muñoz, A., Vilches, J., Misra, S., Paredes, F.: Comparing cuckoo search, bee colony, firefly optimization, and electromagnetism-like algorithms for solving the set covering problem. In: Gervasi, O., Murgante, B., Misra, S., Gavrilova, M.L., Rocha, A.M.A.C., Torre, C., Taniar, D., Apduhan, B.O. (eds.) ICCSA 2015. LNCS, vol. 9155, pp. 187–202. Springer, Heidelberg (2015)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Crawford, B., Soto, R., Peña, C., Riquelme-Leiva, M., Torres-Rojas, C., Misra, S., Johnson, F., Paredes, F.: A comparison of three recent nature-inspired metaheuristics for the set covering problem. In: Gervasi, O., Murgante, B., Misra, S., Gavrilova, M.L., Rocha, A.M.A.C., Torre, C., Taniar, D., Apduhan, B.O. (eds.) ICCSA 2015. LNCS, vol. 9158, pp. 431–443. Springer, Heidelberg (2015)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Hawking, S.: Agujeros negros y pequeños universos. Planeta (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  18. S. Hawking and M. Jackson, A brief history of time. Dove Audio, 1993

    Google Scholar 

  19. Crawford, B., Soto, R., Riquelme-Leiva, M., Peña, C., Torres-Rojas, C., Johnson, F., Paredes, F.: Modified binary firefly algorithms with different transfer functions for solving set covering problems. In: Silhavy, R., Senkerik, R., Oplatkova, Z.K., Prokopova, Z., Silhavy, P. (eds.) Software Engineering in Intelligent Systems. AISC, vol. 349, pp. 307–315. Springer, Heidelberg (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Farahmandian, M., Hatamlou, A.: Solving optimization problems using black hole algorithm. J. Adv. Comput. Sci. Technol. 4(1), 68–74 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Beasley, J.: Or-library (1990). http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~mastjjb/jeb/orlib/scpinfo.html

  22. Beasley, J.E.: An algorithm for set covering problem. Euro. J. Oper. Res. 31(1), 85–93 (1987)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  23. Gervasi, O., Murgante, B., Misra, S., Gavrilova, M.L., Rocha, A.M.A.C., Torre, C., Taniar, D., Apduhan, B.O. (eds.): ICCSA 2015. LNCS, vol. 9155. Springer, Heidelberg (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Beasley, J.E.: A Lagrangian heuristic for set-covering problems. Naval Res. Logistics 1(37), 151–164 (1990)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  25. Nemati, M., Salimi, R., Bazrkar, N.: Black holes algorithm: a swarm algorithm inspired of black holes for optimization problems. IAES Int. J. Artif. Intell. (IJ-AI) 2(3), 143–150 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Broderick Crawford is supported by Grant CONICYT / FONDECYT / REGULAR / 1140897. Ricardo Soto is supported by Grant CONICYT / FONDECYT / REGULAR / 1160455. Sebastiásn Mansilla, Álvaro Gómez and Juan Salas are supported by Postgraduate Grant Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso 2015 (INF-PUCV 2015).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Álvaro Gómez Rubio or Broderick Crawford .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Rubio, Á.G. et al. (2016). Solving the Set Covering Problem with a Binary Black Hole Inspired Algorithm. In: Gervasi, O., et al. Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2016. ICCSA 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9786. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42085-1_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42085-1_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42084-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42085-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics