Exploration of a two sided rendezvous search problem using genetic algorithms

Abstract

The problem of searching for a walker that wants to be found, when the walker moves toward the helicopter when it can hear it, is an example of a two sided search problem which is intrinsically difficult to solve. Thomas et al [1] considered the effectiveness of three standard NATO search paths [2] for this type of problem. In this paper a genetic algorithm is used to show that more effective search paths exist. In addition it is shown that genetic algorithms can be effective in finding a near optimal path of length 196 when searching a 14 x 14 cell area, that is a search space of 10100. ... © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.