Agent based simulation of the dial-a-flight problem
Date
2018
Authors
Reddy, Daniel Tharushen
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Abstract
Agent based simulation and modelling (ABSM) has been noted as a novel method in
solving complex problems. This dissertation makes use of the ABSM method in conjunction
with a Genetic Algorithm to nd good solutions to the dial-a-
ight problem.
The task is to generate a schedule for a heterogeneous
eet of aircraft, with the objective
to reduce operational cost but maintain customer satisfaction. By making use
of booking list data from an air taxi business, operating in the Okavango Delta, two
agent based models were designed, the rst makes use of multi-criteria decision analysis
(MCDA) and the other a method proposed by Campbell [7], to test their e ectiveness
against either upper bound or manual solutions. The solution quality varied between
tests, with booking list sizes between 10 and 200 requests producing improvements to
the upper bound and manual results with a mean improvement from the benchmarks
of 1.61%. The method could also be re ned further by adopting improvement mechanisms
to nal schedules or by making use of retrospective decision making aided by
self learning techniques.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in ful lment of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Science in Engineering.
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Citation
Reddy, Daniel Tharushen (2018) Agent based simulation of the dial-a-flight problem,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,https://hdl.handle.net/10539/28752