[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Commercial Breaks

This does sound like a typical job shop scheduling problem, similiar to one that I have been working on recently for scheduling jobs through a print shop. There are some interesting variations though, presumably the order in which the adverts appear in a slot is not particularly important and the sdame advert can be repeated a number of times in different slots. I would have thought that a GA would give you something at least as good, and probably much better, than you already have. It would require quite a bit of work on a suitable fitness function, i.e. how you tell whether one schedule is "better" than another.
 
regards
Mike
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MullSoft Ltd.                                      tel:+44 1688 400102
Software Development Specialists    fax:+44 1688 400109
http://www.mullsoft.co.uk/               mobile: 0385 512912
----- Original Message -----
From: tamabisca2@home.com
To: Multiple recipients of list GASCHEDULING
Sent: 08 September 1999 03:41

Hello all,
 
I am new to the list and very anxious to learn some of the magic behind self organizing schedules.
 
I'm a Delphi developer for a software company in Southern California.  Ours is the business of placing commercials into breaks for Radio and Cable TV. 
 
Our current "Agent" simply handles orders in the systems one by one, and tries to put the commercials into the types of breaks specified by the order. This is a continuous loop. Every time through it shuffles the deck of orders, and starts again bumping out lower priority commercials, and booking a higher rated one in its place. It will do this until the user is ready to commit the playlist. (Usually a day or so before it is to be aired)
 
Some properties of a commercial:
 
- Dollar Amount
- Priority
- Max Per Day
- Max Per Month
- Minimum Separation (minutes)
- Industry Code
- Product Code 
- Bind To  (Time Window, Specific Show, Football Game, etc)
 
 
 
It seems with the "shuffling" of the orders, that we are simply shooting dice.
 
 
Does this resemble a problem that could benefit from the use of a Genetic Algorithm?
 
 
 
 
Thank you.
Tommy Amabisca