A heuristic incremental modeling approach to course timetabling

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    16 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    The general timetabling problem is an assignment of activities to fixed time intervals, adhering to a predefined set of resource availabilities. Timetabling problems are difficult to solve and can be extremely time-consuming without some computer assistance. In this paper the application of constraint-based reasoning to timetable generation is examined. Specifically, we consider how a timetabling problem can be represented as a Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP), and propose an algorithm for its solution which improves upon the basic idea of backtracking. Normally, when a backtracking routine fails to find a solution, there is nothing of value returned to the user; however, our algorithm extends this process by iteratively adding constraints to the CSP representation. A generalized random model of timetabling problems is proposed. This model creates a diverse range of problem instances, which are used to verify our search algorithm and identify the characteristics of difficult timetabling problems.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationAdvances in Artificial Intelligence - 12th Biennial Conference of the Canadian Society for Computational Studies of Intelligence, AI 1998, Proceedings
    EditorsRobert E. Mercer, Eric Neufeld
    PublisherSpringer Verlag
    Pages16-29
    Number of pages14
    ISBN (Print)3540645756, 9783540645757
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 Jan 1998
    Event12th Biennial Conference on Artificial Intelligence, AI 1998 - Vancouver, Canada
    Duration: 18 Jun 199820 Jun 1998

    Publication series

    NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
    Volume1418
    ISSN (Print)0302-9743
    ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

    Conference

    Conference12th Biennial Conference on Artificial Intelligence, AI 1998
    Country/TerritoryCanada
    CityVancouver
    Period18/06/9820/06/98

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Theoretical Computer Science
    • General Computer Science

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