An algorithm for self-organization of driverless vehicles of a car-rental service

[EN] The solution of fleet assignment problems is one of the core points in the management of a car-rental company. These problems arise from the restrictions imposed by the acceptance of reservations of the customers and from the necessity of an arrangement of the cars at the different depots for attending these bookings. However, with the coming of driverless cars, the rearrangement of vehicles among the depots can be simplified since no staff must be responsible of these tasks. In this note, we show a heuristic algorithm that permits to minimize the number of cars that have to be subcontracted from an external provider in order to attend a list of reservations from customers. Its efficacy is shown in comparison with the solution given by the integer linear programming method. These results can be of interest for other autonomous systems that need to be controlled.The first author is supported by MEC Project MTM2013-47093-P. The third author is supported by MEC Project MTM2012-33073. When adapting the paper to the template we missed out the acknowledgements to the research projects that support our research.Conejero, JA.; Jordan-Lluch, C.; Sanabria-Codesal, E. (2016). An algorithm for self-organization of driverless vehicles of a car-rental service. Nonlinear Dynamics. 84(1):107-114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-015-2237-4S107114841Abara, J.: Applying integer linear programming to the fleet assignment problem. Interfaces 19(4), 20–28 (1989)Ahuja, R.K., Magnati, T.L., Orlin, J.B.: Networks Flows: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1993)Bodin, L., Golden, B., Assad, A., Ball, M.: Routing and scheduling of vehicles and crews: the state of the art. Comput. Oper. Res. 10, 63–212 (1983)Cacchiani, V., Caprara, A., Toth, P.: A Lagrangian heuristic for a train-unit assignment problem. Discrete Appl. Math. 161, 1707–1718 (2013)Cacchiani, V., Caprara, A., Toth, P.: Solving a real-world train unit assignment problem. Math. Program. Ser. B 124, 207–231 (2010)CNN. Driverless car tech gets serious at CES http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/09/tech/innovation/self-driving-cars-ces/ . Last visit on June 18th, 2015Conejero, J.A., Jordan, C., Sanabria-Codesal, E.: An iterative algorithm for the management of an electric-car-rental service. J. Appl. Math. 2014, Article ID 483734, 11 (2014)DARPA Grand Challenge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_DARPA_Grand_Challenge#2005_Grand_Challenge . Last visit on June 18th, 2015Fraile, A., Larrod, E., Magren, A., Sicilia, J.A.: Decision model for siting transport and logistic facilities in urban environments: A methodological approach. J. Comput. Appl. Math. doi: 10.1016/j.cam.2014.12.012Evans, J.R., Minieka, E.: Optimization Algorithms for Networks and Graphs. Dekker, USA (1992)Fink, A., Reiners, T.: Modeling and solving the short-term car rental logistics problem. Transp. Res. Part E 42, 272–292 (2006)Google driverless cars http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car . Last visit on June 18th, (2015)Heikkilä, S.: Mobility as a service A proposal for action for the public administration. Case Helsinki. Master Thesis. School of Engineering. Aalto UniversityHertz, A., Schindl, D., Zufferey, N.: A solution method for a car fleet management problem with maintenance constraints. J. Heuristics 15, 425–450 (2009)Kennington, J.L., Helgason, R.V.: Algorithms for Network Programming. Wiley, New York (1980)Lohatepanont, M., Barnhart, C.: Airline schedule planning: integrated models and algorithms for schedule design and fleet assignment. Transp. Sci. 38, 19–32 (2004)Mobincity Project. http://www.mobincity.eu/ . Last visit on June 18th, (2015)RelayRides. https://relayrides.com/ Last visit on June 18th, (2015)ROADEF Challenge. Description of the problem. http://www.prism.uvsq.fr/~vdc/ROADEF/CHALLENGES/1999/ (1999) Last visit on June 18th, (2015)Superhub Project: SUstainable and PERsuasive Human Users moBility in future cities. http://superhub-project.eu/ . Last visit on June, 18th (2015)Yan, S., Chen, C.H.: Optimal flight scheduling models for cargo airlines under alliances. J. Sched. 11, 175–186 (2008)Yan, S., Tang, C.H., Lee, M.C.: A flight scheduling model for Taiwan airlines under market competitions. Omega 35, 175–186 (2007)Yan, S., Tseng, C.H.: A passenger demand based model for airline flight scheduling. Comput. Oper. Res. 29, 1559–1581 (2002)Yang, Y., Jin, W., Hao, X.: Car rental logistics problem: A review of literature. IEEE International Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics, pp. 2815 - 2819. E-ISBN: 978-1-4244-2013-1 (2008

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