Optimizing CNC Drilling Machine Operations: Traveling Salesman Problem-Differential Evolution Approach

Abstract

This chapter describes the application of differential evolution algorithm to the problem of minimizing the operating path of automated or computer numerically controlled drilling operations. The operating path is first defined as a traveling salesman problem. Then, the relatively new heuristic, differential evolution algorithm is applied to the traveling salesman problem. In a batch production of a large number of items to be drilled such as in printed circuit boards, the travel time of the drilling device is a significant portion of the overall manufacturing process. Hence, the differential evolution algorithm-traveling salesman problem heuristic, can play a significant role in reducing production costs. 22.1 Introduction The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is well known in optimization. A traveling salesman has a number of N cities to visit. The sequence in which the salesperson visits different cities is called a tour. A tour should be such that every city on the list is visited once and only once, except that salesperson returns to the city from which he/she starts. The goal is to find a tour that minimizes the total distance the salesperson travel, among all the tours that satisfy this criterion. Much of the work on the TSP is not motivated by direct applications, but rather by the fact that the TSP provides an ideal platform for the study of general methods that can be applied to a wide range of discrete optimization problems. This is not to say, however , that the TSP does not find applications in many fields. Indeed, the numerous direct applications of the TSP bring life to the research area and help to direct future work. The TSP naturally arises as a sub-problem in many transportation and logistics applications, for example the problem of arranging school bus routes to pick up the children in a school district. More recent applications involve the G. C. Onwubolu et al., New Optimization Techniques in Engineering