Related papers: Further Connections Between Contract-Scheduling an…
This paper combines the idea of a hierarchical distributed genetic algorithm with different inter-agent partnering strategies. Cascading clusters of sub-populations are built from bottom up, with higher-level sub-populations optimising…
Many core problems in robotics can be framed as constrained optimization problems. Often on these problems, the robotic system has uncertainty, or it would be advantageous to identify multiple high quality feasible solutions. To enable…
We study the complexity of constraint satisfaction problems involving global constraints, i.e., special-purpose constraints provided by a solver and represented implicitly by a parametrised algorithm. Such constraints are widely used;…
We consider the problem of finding a door along a wall with a blind robot that neither knows the distance to the door nor the direction towards of the door. This problem can be solved with the well-known doubling strategy yielding an…
Many academic disciplines - including information systems, computer science, and operations management - face scheduling problems as important decision making tasks. Since many scheduling problems are NP-hard in the strong sense, there is a…
Multi-task learning solves multiple correlated tasks. However, conflicts may exist between them. In such circumstances, a single solution can rarely optimize all the tasks, leading to performance trade-offs. To arrive at a set of optimized…
In many industrial robotics applications, such as spot-welding, spray-painting or drilling, the robot is required to visit successively multiple targets. The robot travel time among the targets is a significant component of the overall…
Speed-robust scheduling is the following two-stage problem of scheduling $n$ jobs on $m$ uniformly related machines. In the first stage, the algorithm receives the value of $m$ and the processing times of $n$ jobs; it has to partition the…
The problem of coordination without a priori information about the environment is important in robotics. Applications vary from formation control to search and rescue. This paper considers the problem of search by a group of solitary…
We present a heuristic algorithm for solving the problem of scheduling plans of tasks. The plans are ordered vectors of tasks, and tasks are basic operations carried out by resources. Plans are tied by temporal, precedence and resource…
Assigning jobs onto identical machines with the objective to minimize the maximal load is one of the most basic problems in combinatorial optimization. Motivated by product planing and data placement, we study a natural extension called…
First-order stochastic methods are the state-of-the-art in large-scale machine learning optimization owing to efficient per-iteration complexity. Second-order methods, while able to provide faster convergence, have been much less explored…
We consider the problem of multiple agents or robots searching for a target in the plane. This is motivated by Search and Rescue operations (SAR) in the high seas which in the past were often performed with several vessels, and more…
We consider online preemptive scheduling of jobs arriving one by one, to be assigned to two identical machines, with the goal of makespan minimization. We study the effect of selecting the best solution out of two independent solutions…
We investigate the task and motion planning problem of clearing clutter from a workspace with limited ingress/egress access for multiple robots. We call the problem multi-robot clutter removal (MRCR). Targeting practical applications where…
We study the role of regulatory inspections in a contract design problem in which a principal interacts separately with multiple agents. Each agent's hidden action includes a dimension that determines whether they undertake an extra costly…
We study the problem of tracking multiple moving targets using a team of mobile robots. Each robot has a set of motion primitives to choose from in order to collectively maximize the number of targets tracked or the total quality of…
Distributed optimization for resource allocation problems is investigated and a sub-optimal continuous-time algorithm is proposed. Our algorithm has lower order dynamics than others to reduce burdens of computation and communication, and is…
Mixed-integer optimisation problems can be computationally challenging. Here, we introduce and analyse two efficient algorithms with a specific sequential design that are aimed at dealing with sampled problems within this class. At each…
In today's dynamic and interconnected world, resource constraints pose significant challenges across various domains, ranging from networks, logistics and manufacturing to project management and optimization, etc. Resource-constrained…