sci.op-research

"A.L." wrote in message
news:ct39r3do4da9rohmcc7gn6ocb9ocemp3nt@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:14:06 -0800 (PST), SteveM
> wrote:
>
>>We're looking for a vehicle packing/loading algorithm for an
>>analytical study. It's a military operation so the geometries/weights
>>of the equipment are not standardized to a small set of same dimension
>>sets like standardized containers. I googled the problem and came up
>>with some but not much commercial software.
>
> I am not sure what you are looking for?.. .Algorithm?... Commercial
> sofware?... Something like this
>
> http://www.softtruck.com/faq's.htm
>
> http://www.topseng.com/
>
> http://www3.sympatico.ca/harry.clark/truck.htm
>
> and tons of other...

'Tons' is a bit much. We are aware of about 35, but that number includes a
lot of rather primitive attempts (to put it mildly).

> If algorithms, see, for example, David Pissinger's page
>
> http://www.diku.dk/~pisinger/publications/sort_date.html
>
> If the above is not what you are looking for, then why?..
>
> A.L.

Steve, if you are looking for an algorithm/optimizer that takes limits on
Center of Gravity into account during the optimization, your choice is very
limited. None of the above systems (Softtruck, Maxload, Truckfill) does this
to my knowledge. Cube-IQ (our own software, www.magiclogic.com) does, and
maybe also LoadDesigner (www.loaddesigner.com) and Puzzle
(http://www.iml.fraunhofer.de/1470.html). Most of the algorithms published
in the scientific literature have not been taken to the point where they are
of truly practical use, but do check what has been published by the people
at the University of Swansea (see www.goweralg.co.uk). The Fraunhofer
Institute's Puzzle is another exception.

RJ