A firefly algorithm based approach for the two-dimensional min-cost covering problem

The min-cost covering problem (MCCP) is strongly NP-hard and has numerous applications in the logistics industry. Given that the one-dimensional MCCP is not practical in many scenarios, we establish the mathematical model of the two-dimensional min-cost covering problem (2-MCCP) and propose a firefly algorithm based approach (MCFA). In this novel approach, a heuristic algorithm is used to get initial solutions and the movements of fireflies are redefined. Finally, to evaluate the performance of the MCFA, a series of experiments are conducted and comparisons between the random search algorithm and the MCFA are given, which demonstrate the effectiveness and the high efficiency of the MCFA.