Project description
A new courier dispatch with graph theory
The rapidly growing online food delivery market requires efficient allocation of couriers to orders. This is known as the food delivery dispatch problem (FDDP). Current solutions rely on generic optimisation algorithms that overlook the problem’s global structure. The EU-funded GraphEats project addresses this by modelling the FDDP as a graph, where nodes represent possible courier-order pairs and edges indicate conflicts between them. By analysing these conflict graphs, GraphEats aims to design customised algorithms and use graph neural networks to improve dispatch speed and accuracy. This innovative approach promises immediate benefits for food delivery and a flexible model to optimise logistics across various industries.
Objective
The Online Food Delivery (OFD) industry has experienced rapid growth, largely driven by third-party platforms such as UberEats, DoorDash, and Grubhub. Central to the efficiency of these platforms is the Food Delivery Dispatch Problem (FDDP), an optimization problem that aims to match couriers with orders in real time, balancing delivery speed and costs. Current methods to solve this problem rely heavily on general-purpose optimization tools that do not fully exploit the structural properties of the underlying problem. This project, GraphEats, aims to bridge this gap by integrating advanced graph-theoretic methods, pushing the boundaries of logistics optimization in the OFD domain.
GraphEats approaches the FDDP as a graph theory problem on an appropriately constructed graph, referred to as the conflict graph. In this graph, vertices represent potential plans (courier-order assignments) and edges represent conflicts between plans. Despite their pivotal role, there is currently no systematic academic study on the conflict graphs emerging in food delivery applications. Leveraging structural properties of the conflict graph, GraphEats will develop innovative, tailored preprocessing methods and algorithms for solving the FDDP, improving both the efficiency and running time of dispatch algorithms. Additionally, the project will explore how Graph Neural Networks (GNN)-based techniques can be customized for food delivery logistics by identifying meaningful structural patterns in the problem to further boost solver performance.
GraphEats seeks to deliver both immediate improvements to current dispatch technology and long-term advancements in the application of graph theory to real-world logistics problems. Ultimately, this research will establish a versatile framework adaptable to a variety of logistics challenges, advancing both academic knowledge and practical solutions for the fast-growing OFD industry.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-TALENTS-02
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
34450 Istanbul
Türkiye
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