Parallel Robot Scheduling to Minimize Mean Tardiness with Unequal Release Date and Precedence Constraints Using a Hybrid Intelligent System Regular Paper

This paper considers the problem of scheduling a given number of jobs on a specified number of identical parallel robots with unequal release dates and precedence constraints in order to minimize mean tardiness. This problem is strongly NP-hard. The author proposes a hybrid intelligent solution system, which uses Genetic Algorithms and Simulated Annealing (GA+SA). A genetic algorithm, as is well known, is an efficient tool for the solution of combinatorial optimization problems. Solutions for problems of different scales are found using genetic algorithms, simulated annealing and a Hybrid Intelligent Solution System (HISS). Computational results of empirical experiments show that the Hybrid Intelligent Solution System (HISS) is successful with regards to solution quality and computational time.