A P-based hybrid evolutionary algorithm for vehicle routing problem with time windows

Abstract

The ability to solve optimization problems using membrane algorithms is an important application of membrane computing. This work combines membrane systems and genetic operators to build an approximated algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with time windows. The algorithm is based on a tissue-like membrane structure combined with cell separation rules and communication rules; during such processes membranes collect and disperse information. Genetic operators are used as the system's subalgorithms. We also design a special improvement strategy to speed up the search process in subsystems. The experimental results show that the solution quality from the proposed algorithm is competitive with other heuristic or metaheuristic algorithms in the literature. © 2014 Yunyun Niu et al.