Scheduling Inland Waterway Transport Vessels and Locks Using a Switching Max-Plus-Linear Systems Approach

Journal article (2022)

Authors

P. Segovia Castillo Transport Engineering and Logistics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
A.J.J. van den Boom Team Ton van den Boom - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
V. Reppa Transport Engineering and Logistics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Research Group
Transport Engineering and Logistics (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2022 P. Segovia Castillo, Mike Pesselse, A.J.J. van den Boom, V. Reppa
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/OJITS.2022.3218334
More Info
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Published Date

2022

Language

English

Faculty

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Department

Marine and Transport Technology

Research Group

Transport Engineering and Logistics

Abstract

This paper considers the inland waterborne transport (IWT) problem, and presents a scheduling approach for inland vessels and locks to generate optimal vessel and lock timetables. The scheduling strategy is designed in the switching max-plus-linear (SMPL) systems framework, as these are characterized by a number of features that make them well suited to represent the IWT problem. In particular, the resulting model is linear in the max-plus algebra, and SMPL systems can switch between modes, an interesting feature due to the presence of vessel routing and ordering constraints in the model. Moreover, SMPL systems can be transformed into mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problems, for which efficient solvers are available. Finally, a realistic case study is used to test the approach and assess its effectiveness.