Scheduling large fleets of vehicles: a rule based expert system approach

Concerns the application of knowledge based systems to the scheduling of large fleets of vehicles. A prototype scheduling system for an authentic size of problem domain was implemented, using a high end expert system development environment (Automated Reasoning Tool). The system uses data directed techniques to produce a schedule, on industry standard hardware, in a commercially acceptable execution time. The problem considered involved a network of 50 arbitrarily connected nodes, arbitrary distances apart, and a resource of 50 to 150 trucks; the requirement was to plan 200 deliveries so there is a minimum of unladen travel and optimised speed of delivery. A truck is constrained to travel a maximum distance each day