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We demonstrate that a single training trajectory can transform a graph neural network into an unsupervised heuristic for combinatorial optimization. Focusing on the Travelling Salesman Problem, we show that encoding global structural…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-02-03 Yimeng Min , Carla P. Gomes

We introduce a combinatorial optimization-enriched machine learning pipeline and a novel learning paradigm to solve inventory routing problems with stochastic demand and dynamic inventory updates. After each inventory update, our approach…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2024-02-08 Toni Greif , Louis Bouvier , Christoph M. Flath , Axel Parmentier , Sonja U. K. Rohmer , Thibaut Vidal

The traveling salesman problem is a fundamental combinatorial optimization problem with strong exact algorithms. However, as problems scale up, these exact algorithms fail to provide a solution in a reasonable time. To resolve this, current…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-01-09 Yong Liang Goh , Wee Sun Lee , Xavier Bresson , Thomas Laurent , Nicholas Lim

In this paper, we provide a novel strategy for solving Traveling Salesman Problem, which is a famous combinatorial optimization problem studied intensely in the TCS community. In particular, we consider the imitation learning framework,…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-10-13 Pingbang Hu

Recently, there is an emerging trend to apply deep reinforcement learning to solve the vehicle routing problem (VRP), where a learnt policy governs the selection of next node for visiting. However, existing methods could not handle well the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-10-07 Jingwen Li , Liang Xin , Zhiguang Cao , Andrew Lim , Wen Song , Jie Zhang

We introduce Limited Rollout Beam Search (LRBS), a beam search strategy for deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based combinatorial optimization improvement heuristics. Utilizing pre-trained models on the Euclidean Traveling Salesperson…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-12-16 Federico Julian Camerota Verdù , Lorenzo Castelli , Luca Bortolussi

Deep learning has been extended to a number of new domains with critical success, though some traditional orienteering problems such as the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) and its variants are not commonly solved using such techniques.…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2019-03-11 Wei Shao , Flora D. Salim , Jeffrey Chan , Sean Morrison , Fabio Zambetta

Many real-world problems can be formulated as a constrained Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). However, the constraints are always complex and numerous, making the TSPs challenging to solve. When the number of complicated constraints grows,…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2024-03-11 Jingxiao Chen , Ziqin Gong , Minghuan Liu , Jun Wang , Yong Yu , Weinan Zhang

Machine learning has been adapted to help solve NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems. One prevalent way is learning to construct solutions by deep neural networks, which has been receiving more and more attention due to the high…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-05-07 Chengrui Gao , Haopu Shang , Ke Xue , Dong Li , Chao Qian

We consider a vehicle routing problem which seeks to minimize cost subject to service level constraints on several groups of deliveries. This problem captures some essential challenges faced by a logistics provider which operates…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2017-06-13 Teobaldo Bulhões , Minh Hoàng Hà , Rafael Martinelli , Thibaut Vidal

This work presents solutions to the Traveling Salesperson Problem with precedence constraints (TSPPC) using Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) by adapting recent approaches that work well for regular TSPs. Common to these approaches is the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-09-20 Christian Löwens , Inaam Ashraf , Alexander Gembus , Genesis Cuizon , Jonas K. Falkner , Lars Schmidt-Thieme

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has been used to learn effective heuristics for solving complex combinatorial optimisation problem via policy networks and have demonstrated promising performance. Existing works have focused on solving…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-12-25 Nasrin Sultana , Jeffrey Chan , A. K. Qin , Tabinda Sarwar

Combinatorial optimization is widely applied in a number of areas nowadays. Unfortunately, many combinatorial optimization problems are NP-hard which usually means that they are unsolvable in practice. However, it is often unnecessary to…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2012-07-10 Daniel Karapetyan

We consider a family of Rich Vehicle Routing Problems (RVRP) which have the particularity to combine a heterogeneous fleet with other attributes, such as backhauls, multiple depots, split deliveries, site dependency, open routes, duration…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-03-07 Puca Huachi Vaz Penna , Anand Subramanian , Luiz Satoru Ochi , Thibaut Vidal , Christian Prins

Learning to solve combinatorial optimization problems, such as the vehicle routing problem, offers great computational advantages over classical operations research solvers and heuristics. The recently developed deep reinforcement learning…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-01-06 Daniela Thyssens , Jonas Falkner , Lars Schmidt-Thieme

Existing neural methods for the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) mostly aim at finding a single optimal solution. To discover diverse yet high-quality solutions for Multi-Solution TSP (MSTSP), we propose a novel deep reinforcement learning…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-01-03 Qi Li , Zhiguang Cao , Yining Ma , Yaoxin Wu , Yue-Jiao Gong

The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is a classic NP-hard combinatorial optimization task with numerous practical applications. Classic heuristic solvers can attain near-optimal performance for small problem instances, but become…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-08-13 Michael Li , Eric Bae , Christopher Haberland , Natasha Jaques

We investigate learning heuristics for domain-specific planning. Prior work framed learning a heuristic as an ordinary regression problem. However, in a greedy best-first search, the ordering of states induced by a heuristic is more…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2016-08-04 Caelan Reed Garrett , Leslie Pack Kaelbling , Tomas Lozano-Perez

The design of good heuristics or approximation algorithms for NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems often requires significant specialized knowledge and trial-and-error. Can we automate this challenging, tedious process, and learn the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2018-02-23 Hanjun Dai , Elias B. Khalil , Yuyu Zhang , Bistra Dilkina , Le Song

The integration of Reinforcement Learning (RL) with heuristic methods is an emerging trend for solving optimization problems, which leverages RL's ability to learn from the data generated during the search process. One promising approach is…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-09-19 Arthur Müller , Lukas Vollenkemper