CONTAINER LOADING ALLOCATION TO IMPROVE SPACE AND LOADING UTILIZATION OF FLEET COMPARTMENT CAPACITY BY USING GENETIC ALGORITHM

PT. XYZ is the current leading automotive company, the supplier that is part of its subsidiary company provides services in form of supply and distribution of raw material. Based on data collected from January till March, the problem appears is the compartment fleet utilization that is far from the maximum capacity. According to the plan production control department, the desired average loading utilization is 16 ton per delivery, while the average loading utilization is 42% or 6,8 ton per delivery. In addition, there are also some deliveries exceeding maximum capacity allowed. Therefore in this research, the most suitable loading pattern is needed to improve utilization of fleet compartment with heterogeneous fleet and heterogeneous material dimension. Loading pattern is also needed as supporting tools for the department by considering weight limit, physical dimension of material and compartment fleet dimension, so that overloaded and unburdened deliveries can be avoided. The research is conducted in plan production control department to gain more information about the fleet, production demand, and raw material properties. Genetic algorithm is used as method for solving the problem and visualize the loading pattern by using Matlab. The calculation is conducted toward loading and space utilization of compartment fleet. From the research, the utilization of space can be optimized to 6% and loading utilization can be optimized up to 50%

Development of a platform for building design, validation, and optimization of modules transportation

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáIn a world where each day is becoming more intertwined with technology, numerous companies strive to discover solutions for new project developments or enhance existing complex systems. Their aim is to reduce material wastage, energy consumption, labor dependency, project timelines, and overall costs. A recent trend in civil construction is to use pre-fabricated components such as walls, beams, columns, and other components. These components can be implemented in many different types of buildings and along with technology the system can save information about them, preventing risks during the construction, reducing costs for the companies, and improving the efficiency of the company as also being the producers of the components. The development of this API was carried out using the Python programming language, which facilitated rapid development. It leveraged the FastAPI framework, offering the flexibility to create diverse methods for validating structural and architectural regulations for buildings. The API also provides an estimate of the required pre-fabricated components for construction. Additionally, it incorporates optimization for cargo loading, a pivotal aspect of civil engineering. A genetic algorithm is employed to identify the optimal solution for fitting components within a container. This not only enhances delivery times but also reduces costs by avoiding unnecessary containers. As a comprehensive system designed for the market, this API includes endpoints for essential web app functionalities. It aims to prevent user errors and has been rigorously tested and approved by architects specialized in buildings featuring pre-fabricated components. Any identified errors have already been rectified.Num mundo onde a tecnologia está cada vez mais interligada com o nosso dia a dia, muitas empresas estão em busca de soluções para novos projetos ou para aprimorar sistemas complexos já existentes. O objetivo é reduzir o desperdício de materiais, o consumo de energia, a dependência de mão de obra, os prazos de projeto e os custos gerais. Uma tendência recente na construção civil é o uso de componentes pré-fabricados, como paredes, vigas, colunas e outros elementos. Esses componentes podem ser aplicados em diversos tipos de edifícios e, juntamente com a tecnologia, o sistema pode armazenar informações sobre eles, prevenindo riscos durante a construção, reduzindo custos para as empresas e melhorando sua eficiência, bem como a eficiência dos produtores de componentes. O desenvolvimento desta API foi realizado usando a linguagem de programação Python, o que possibilitou um desenvolvimento rápido. Ela aproveitou o framework FastAPI, oferecendo a flexibilidade para criar diversos métodos de validação de regulamentos estruturais e arquitetônicos para edifícios. A API também fornece uma estimativa dos componentes pré-fabricados necessários para a construção. Além disso, ela incorpora a otimização para o carregamento de carga, um aspecto fundamental na engenharia civil. Um algoritmo genético é utilizado para identificar a solução ideal para acomodar os componentes dentro de um contêiner. Isso não apenas melhora os prazos de entrega, mas também reduz os custos, evitando contêineres desnecessários. Como um sistema abrangente projetado para o mercado, esta API inclui endpoints para funcionalidades essenciais de aplicativos da web. Seu objetivo é evitar erros do usuário e ela foi rigorosamente testada e aprovada por arquitetos especializados em edifícios com componentes pré-fabricados. Quaisquer erros identificados já foram corrigidos

A matheuristic approach to the integration of three-dimensional Bin Packing Problem and vehicle routing problem with simultaneous delivery and pickup

This work presents a hybrid approach to solve a distribution problem of a Portuguese company in the automotive industry. The objective is to determine the minimum cost for daily distribution operations, such as collecting and delivering goods to multiple suppliers. Additional constraints are explicitly considered, such as time windows and loading constraints due to the limited capacity of the fleet in terms of weight and volume. An exhaustive review of the state of the art was conducted, presenting different typology schemes from the literature for the pickup and delivery problems in the distribution field. Two mathematical models were integrated within a matheuristic approach. One model reflects the combination of the Vehicle Routing Problem with Simultaneous Delivery and Pickup with the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows. The second one aims to pack all the items to be delivered onto the pallets, reflecting a three-dimensional single bin size Bin Packing Problem. Both formulations proposed—a commodity-flow model and a formulation of the Three-Dimensional Packing Problem must be solved within the matheuristic. All the approaches were tested using real instances from data provided by the company. Additional computational experiments using benchmark instances were also performed.This research was funded by national funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under the projects UIDB/00285/2020, UIDB/00319/2020. This work was supported by the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (UIDB/04058/2020) + (UIDP/04058/2020), funded by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology, IP. This work was also funded by FEDER in the frame of COMPETE 2020 under the project POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072638

Conceptual Design of the Gondola of a Hybrid Airship Including Loading and Unloading Mechanisms

Transport has been a necessity to us since the early times, driving the chase for a better way of moving people, animals and goods from one location to another. The first airship flight happened in 1852, introducing airships to the world and making possible the controlled powered flight. After a series of high-profile accidents involving airships, airplanes were recognized as a safer transportation vehicle and gradually airships were directed for other applications such as advertising, sightseeing, surveillance and research. Nowadays, airships are becoming popular again, promoting their projection to fill a gap in the transport industry, in which they have advantages over other forms of transportation. As the cargo transport demand rises, new transportation options are being considered. Airships are receiving much more attention, as nations are now reconsidering their transportation systems. It can be forecasted, that with time, higher confidence in airship operations and wider scope of their applications, airships could take over of some of the airborne cargo market, due to their obvious competitive advantages. This work’s main goal is to develop an airship’s gondola adjustable to the user’s needs. Either transporting passengers or carrying cargo, airships make possible missions that in some other way would take a longer time to complete and would require much more resources to plan. The project also includes the conceptual design of a cargo container and corresponding loading and unloading mechanisms.O transporte tem sido, desde o início dos tempos, uma necessidade para o Homem, alimentando a procura por melhores formas de mover pessoas, animais e bens de um local para outro. Em 1852, ocorreu o primeiro voo de um dirigível, apresentando-os ao mundo e possibilitando o voo motorizado e controlado. Após uma série de acidentes de destaque, envolvendo dirigíveis, os aviões foram reconhecidos como um veículo de transporte mais seguro e gradualmente os dirigíveis foram direcionados para outras aplicações, tais como publicidade, turismo, vigilância e investigação. Hoje em dia os dirigíveis estão a tornar-se novamente populares, promovendo a sua projeção para preencher uma lacuna no sector de transportes, no qual têm vantagens em relação a outros meios de transporte. Com o aumento da procura pelo transporte de carga, novas opções de transporte estão sendo consideradas e os dirigíveis têm vindo a receber mais atenção, agora que vários países estão reavaliando os seus sistemas de transporte. Prevê-se que, com o tempo, maior confiança na operação de dirigíveis e um âmbito mais amplo para a sua aplicação, os dirigíveis poderão assumir o controlo de uma parte do mercado de transporte de carga aérea, devido às suas óbvias vantagens competitivas. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é desenvolver a gôndola de um dirigível, ajustável às necessidades do operador. Do transporte de passageiros ao transporte de carga, os dirigíveis tornarão possíveis missões que de outra forma levariam muito mais tempo a ser cumpridas e exigiriam muitos mais recursos a serem planeadas. Este projeto inclui também o design conceptual de um contentor de carga e respetivos mecanismos carga e descarga

Thirty years of heterogeneous vehicle routing

It has been around thirty years since the heterogeneous vehicle routing problem was introduced, and significant progress has since been made on this problem and its variants. The aim of this survey paper is to classify and review the literature on heterogeneous vehicle routing problems. The paper also presents a comparative analysis of the metaheuristic algorithms that have been proposed for these problems

Multi-objective vehicle routing and loading with time window constraints:a real-life application

Motivated by a real-life application, this research considers the multi-objective vehicle routing and loading problem with time window constraints which is a variant of the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows with one/two-dimensional loading constraints. The problem consists of routing a number of vehicles to serve a set of customers and determining the best way of loading the goods ordered by the customers onto the vehicles used for transportation. The three objectives pertaining to minimisation of total travel distance, number of routes to use and total number of mixed orders in the same pallet are, more often than not, conflicting. To achieve a solution with no preferential information known in advance from the decision maker, the problem is formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model with one objective—minimising the total cost, where the three original objectives are incorporated as parts of the total cost function. A Generalised Variable Neighbourhood Search (GVNS) algorithm is designed as the search engine to relieve the computational burden inherent to the application of the MILP model. To evaluate the effectiveness of the GVNS algorithm, a real instance case study is generated and solved by both the GVNS algorithm and the software provided by our industrial partner. The results show that the suggested approach provides solutions with better overall values than those found by the software provided by our industrial partner

Space shuttle orbiter heat pipe applications. Volume 2: Final report

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Concept design of a fast sail assisted feeder container ship

A fast sail assisted feeder container ship concept has been developed for the 2020 container market in the South East Asian and Caribbean regions.The design presented has met the requirements of an initial economic study, with a cargo capacity of 1270 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers, meeting the predictions of container throughput derived from historical data. In determining suitable vessel dimensions, account has also been taken for port and berthing restrictions, and considering hydrodynamic performance. The vessel has been designed for a maximum speed of 25 knots, allowing it to meet the demand for trade whilst reducing the number of ships operating on the routes considered.The design development of the fast feeder concept has involved rigorous analyses in a number of areas to improve the robustness of the final design. Model testing has been key to the development of the concept, by increasing confidence in the final result. This is due to the fact that other analysis techniques are not always appropriate or accurate. Two hull forms have been developed to meet requirements whilst utilising different propulsor combinations. This has enabled evaluation of efficiency gains resulting from different hydrodynamic phenomena for each design. This includes an evaluation of the hydrodynamic performance when utilising the sail system. This has been done using a combination of model test results and data from regression analysis. The final propulsor chosen is a contra-rotating podded drive arrangement. Wind tunnel testing has been used to maximise the performance of a Multi-wing sail system by investigating the effects of wing spacing, stagger and sail-container interactions. This has led to an increase in lift coefficient of 32% from initial predictions. The savings in power requirement due to the sail system are lower than initially predicted. However, another benefit of their installation, motion damping, has been identified. Whilst this has not been fully investigated, additional fuel savings are possible as well as improved seakeeping performance.The design is shown to be environmentally sustainable when compared to existing vessels operating on the proposed routes. This is largely due to the use of low-carbon and zero-sulphur fuel (liquefied natural gas) and improvements in efficiency regarding operation. This especially relates to cargo handling and scheduling. Green house gas emissions have been predicted to fall by 42% and 40% in the two regions should the design be adopted. These savings are also due to the use of the Multi-wing sail system, which contributes to reductions in power requirement of up to 6% when the vessel operates at its lower speed of 15 knots. It is demonstrated that the fast feeder is also economically feasible, with predicted daily cost savings of 27% and 33% in the South East Asian and Caribbean regions respectively. Thus the fast feeder container ship concept is a viable solution for the future of container transhipment. <br/