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Publicações

Publicações por Ana Maria Rodrigues

2015

Sectorization: measures and an electromagnetism based approach

Autores
Rodrigues, Ana Maria; Soeiro Ferreira, José;

Publicação
28th Conference of the European Chapter on Combinatorial Optimization

Abstract
Sectorization means dividing a set of basic units into sectors or parts, a procedure that occurs in several contexts, such as political, health and school districting, social networks and sales territory or airspace assignment, to achieve some goal or to facilitate an activity. This presentation will focus on three main issues: Measures, a new approach to sectorization problems and an application in waste collection. When designing or comparing sectors different characteristics are usually taken into account. Some are commonly used, and they are related to the concepts of contiguity, equilibrium and compactness. These fundamental characteristics will be addressed, by defining new generic measures and by proposing a new measure, desirability, connected with the idea of preference. A new approach to sectorization inspired in Coulomb’s Law, which establishes a relation of force between electrically charged points, will be proposed. A charged point represents a small region with specific characteristics/values creating relations of attraction/repulsion with the others (two by two), proportional to the charges and inversely proportional to their distance. Finally, a real case about sectorization and vehicle routing in solid waste collection will be mentioned.

2021

Shannon’s entropy method to find weights of objectives in sectorization problem

Autores
Teymourifar, Aydin; Rodrigues, Ana Maria; Ferreira, José Soeiro;

Publicação
6th International Mediterranean Science and Engineering Congress (IMSEC 2021): proceedings book

Abstract
One of the most widely used methods in multi-objective optimization problems is the weighted sum method. However, in this method, defining the weights of objectives is always a challenge. Various methods have been suggested to achieve the weights, one of which is Shannon’s entropy method. In this study, a bi-objective model is introduced to solve the sectorization problem. As a solution method, the model is transformed into two single-objective ones. Also, the bi-objective model is solved for the case where the weights are equal to one. The gained three results from a benchmark are supposed as alternatives in a decision matrix. After the limitation of this approach appears, solutions from different benchmarks are added to the matrix. With Shannon’s entropy method, the weights of the objective functions are got from the decision matrix. The limitations of the approach and possible causes are discussed.

2024

Many-objective sectorization for last-mile delivery optimization: A decision support system

Autores
Torres, G; Fontes, T; Rodrigues, AM; Rocha, P; Ribeiro, J; Ferreira, JS;

Publicação
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS

Abstract
The efficient last-mile delivery of goods involves complex challenges in optimizing driver sectors and routes. This problem tends to be large-scale and involves several criteria to meet simultaneously, such as creating compact sectors, balancing the workload among drivers, minimizing the number of undelivered packages and reducing the dissimilarity of sectors on different days. This work proposes a Decision Support System (DSS) that allows decision-makers to select improved allocation strategies to define sectors. The main contribution is an interactive DSS tool that addresses a many-objective (more than 3 objectives) sectorization problem with integrated routing. It establishes a global allocation strategy and uses it as a benchmark for the created daily allocations and routes. A Preference-Inspired Co-Evolutionary Algorithm with Goal vectors using Mating Restriction (PICEA-g-mr) is employed to solve the many-objective optimization problem. The DSS also includes a visualization tool to aid decision-makers in selecting the most suitable allocation strategy. The approach was tested in a medium-sized Metropolitan Area and evaluated using resource evaluation metrics and visualization methods. The proposed DSS deals effectively and efficiently with the sectorization problem in the context of last-mile delivery by producing a set of viable and good-quality allocations, empowering decision-makers in selecting better allocation strategies. Focused on enhancing service efficiency and driver satisfaction, the DSS serves as a valuable tool to improve overall service quality.

2024

How to know it is "the one"? Selecting the most suitable solution from the Pareto optimal set. Application to sectorization

Autores
Öztürk, EG; Rodrigues, AM; Ferreira, JS; Oliveira, CT;

Publicação
OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND DECISIONS

Abstract
Multi -objective optimization (MOO) considers several objectives to find a feasible set of solutions. Selecting a solution from Pareto frontier (PF) solutions requires further effort. This work proposes a new classification procedure that fits into the analytic hierarchy Process (AHP) to pick the best solution. The method classifies PF solutions using pairwise comparison matrices for each objective. Sectorization is the problem of splitting a region into smaller sectors based on multiple objectives. The efficacy of the proposed method is tested in such problems using our instances and real data from a Portuguese delivery company. A non -dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is used to obtain PF solutions based on three objectives. The proposed method rapidly selects an appropriate solution. The method was assessed by comparing it with a method based on a weighted composite single -objective function.

2024

D3S: Decision support system for sectorization

Autores
Öztürk, EG; Rocha, P; Rodrigues, AM; Ferreira, JS; Lopes, C; Oliveira, C; Nunes, AC;

Publicação
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Abstract
Sectorization problems refer to dividing a large set, area or network into smaller parts concerning one or more objectives. A decision support system (DSS) is a relevant tool for solving these problems, improving optimisation procedures, and finding feasible solutions more efficiently. This paper presents a new web-based Decision Support System for Sectorization (D3S). D3S is designed to solve sectorization problems in various areas, such as school and health districting,planning sales territories and maintenance operations zones, or political districting. Due to its generic design, D3S bridges the gap between sectorization problems and a state-of-the-art decision support tool. The paper aims to present the generic and technical attributes of D3S by providing detailed information regarding the problem-solution approach (based on Evolutionary Algorithms), objectives (most common in sectorization), constraints, structure and performance.

2023

Parcel Delivery Services: A Sectorization Approach with Simulation

Autores
Lopes, C; Rodrigues, AM; Ozturk, E; Ferreira, JS; Nunes, AC; Rocha, P; Oliveira, CT;

Publicação
OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, IO 2022-OR

Abstract
Sectorization problems, also known as districting or territory design, deal with grouping a set of previously defined basic units, such as points or small geographical areas, into a fixed number of sectors or responsibility areas. Usually, there are multiple criteria to be satisfied regarding the geographic characteristics of the territory or the planning purposes. This work addresses a case study of parcel delivery services in the region of Porto, Portugal. Using knowledge about the daily demand in each basic unit (7-digit postal code), the authors analysed data and used it to simulate dynamically new daily demands according to the relative frequency of service in each basic unit and the statistical distribution of the number of parcels to be delivered in each basic unit. The sectorization of the postal codes is solved independently considering two objectives (equilibrium and compactness) using Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) implemented in Python.

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