Objective High quality planning, scheduling and resource allocation lie at the core of many business operations. Their importance is growing with the increase in complexity of modern business, and the need for efficient response to international competition. The computational effort required to solve problems in planning and scheduling typically grows very rapidly with the size of the problem, currently making the solution of large problems impractical. CHIC-2 aims to extend the range of solvable problems and reduce the time and cost of producing good solutions.These considerations set the agenda of CHIC-2:- To develop hybrid algorithms suitable for complex optimisation problems.- To provide a methodology to support efficient exploitation of the algorithms.- To test and validate the algorithms on real industrial problems.- To build a platform which can support their efficient and flexible execution.CHIC-2 will tackle four applications, each supplied by a major end user in the project. The applications, which are of strategic business importance, are production planning (Renault), equipment leasing (Bouygues), electricity trading (Eastern Electric) and plant scheduling (Hellenic Steel) and illustrate the blending of combinatorial optimisation and domain-dependent constraints.The project aims to deliver solutions which improve significantly on current solutions with respect to cost, quality and integration as well as to use the results to develop a methodology which will support the development of a wide range of new applications.The principal objective is to design and deliver a range of hybrid algorithms for complex optimisation problems. These will be based on the integration of three different approaches, viz. constraint logic programming, mathematical programming and stochastic repair techniques. These approaches have sometimes been presented as competitors, but more recently, they have come to be seen as complementary. CHIC-2 is dedicated to exploiting their complementary strengths.The need for hybrid algorithms to address optimisation problems is due to the fact that different techniques are suited to solving different parts or aspects of the problems. This can be put another way. Many optimisation problems are hybrid problems, that embrace several different requirements, e.g. matching, routing and scheduling (real-life dispatching problems). In such a case there is a clear need to mix the techniques, that is, to build hybrid algorithms.To facilitate the efficient design and development of hybrid algorithms the Project will seek to specify (1) a uniform modelling of complex optimisation problems and (2) a methodology for mapping the resulting models onto appropriate hybrid algorithms.This strategy promises to yield much improved solutions to the optimisation problems of the user organisations. This will be realised through the effective integration of a wide variety of different but related aspects of the problems. Another envisaged benefit of the methodology is that it should reduce both the time and cost of handling new problems.CHIC-2 will deliver a new programming environment ECLiPSe.2 that is designed to support the efficient implementation and execution of the hybrid algorithms. The environment is to be a successor to the ECLiPSe technology, developed on the Esprit CHIC project (P5291).The two primary aims in developing ECLiPSe.2 are (1) to provide an efficient, flexible programming environment for prototyping and developing applications software addressing large scale optimisation problems; and (2) to provide a reliable, robust platform for delivering solutions and embedding the software in existing corporate environments. Fields of science social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsnatural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applications Programme(s) FP4-ESPRIT 4 - Specific research and technological development programme in the field of information technologies, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 1.7 - Emerging Software Technologies Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE EU contribution No data Address South Kensington Campus LONDON United Kingdom See on map Total cost No data Participants (5) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Bouygues France EU contribution No data Address Avenue Eugene Freyssinet 1 78061 Saint-Quentin-en- Yvelines See on map Total cost No data Euro-Decision France EU contribution No data Address Rue Des Etats Generaux 36 78000 Versailles See on map Total cost No data International Computers United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address High Street 1 SW15 1SW Putney See on map Total cost No data National Technical University of Athens Greece EU contribution No data Address 28th Octovriou Avenue 42 10682 Athenes See on map Total cost No data Regienov Renault Recherche Innovation France EU contribution No data Address Rue Du 18 Juin 1940 9-11 92500 Rueil-Malmaison See on map Total cost No data
