Hybrid Evolutionary Approach with the Jaya Algorithm for the Multiobjective Patrolling Problem
Abstract
Routing optimization is crucial for many real-world applications, such as urban security, infrastructure inspection, and logistics. Many of these problems can be formulated as Arc Routing Problems (ARPs) on complex transportation networks. Building on our previous studies, we consider the Police Officer Patrol Problem (POPP) and its extension, the Generalized POPP (GPOPP), a bi-objective optimization problem defined on mixed graphs. The GPOPP aims to minimize patrol route length while maximizing the coverage of the guarded area, where patrol officers can visually confirm adjacent streets without physically traversing them.
However, solving the GPOPP efficiently remains challenging for two main reasons. First, conventional route operators developed for node-routing problems often produce infeasible solutions when applied to arc-routing contexts. Second, existing hybrid evolutionary approaches typically require repeated route modifications, resulting in high computational overhead and exhibit sensitivity to parameter settings.
To address these issues, this study proposes an improved hybrid evolutionary framework that integrates evolutionary computation with the Jaya algorithm. The proposed method introduces three key components:
1) a Connectivity-Based Mutation (CBM) operator designed to maintain feasible route structures in mixed graphs while generating diverse solutions, 2) a decomposed Jaya algorithm that improves search efficiency by focusing on a single objective at a time, and 3) a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) that dynamically adjusts mutation and crossover probabilities.
Extensive numerical experiments using benchmark problems derived from the Mixed Rural Postman Problem (MRPP) demonstrate that the proposed method consistently outperforms both the existing hybrid method and NSGA-II in terms of solution quality and computational efficiency.
Keywords:
Arc routing problem, Police officer patrolling problem, Evolutionary algorithms, MoEA-HSS, Jaya algorithm, Fuzzy logic controlReferences
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