README for Group Assignment 2.5

CEGM1000 MUDE: Week 2.5, Friday, Dec 13th, 2024.

You can access this assignment with the following link: classroom.github.com/a/8ARaIcZV.

The focus of this assignment is on applying two different methods for optimization on a road network design problem. Part of the background material in the notebooks was already available in Chapter 5.11 in the textbook.

Overview of material

• README.md (this file)
• Report.md, primary file in which you write your answers and copy plots from the notebooks. Typically, a short answer is sufficient, but please include a reasoning, justification or argumentation. Remember to use Markdown features to clearly indicate your answers for each question.
• Analysis_LP.ipynb, the notebook in which you apply a mixed integer linear program (MILP) to a road network design problem (NDP).
• Analysis_GA.ipynb, the notebook in which you apply a genetic algorithm (GA) to the same road network design problem (NDP).
• a subdirectory ./utils containing some functions for visualization and data processing functions (which you don't need to open).
• a subdirectory ./figs containing some figures included in the notebooks (which you don't need to open).
• a subdirectory ./input containing data files

Python Environments

You can run all of the notebooks for today in the environment mude-week-2-5 which you've been using during the workshop this week. In particular, it includes the optimization packages pymoo and gurobipy. The non-Python part of the software Gurobi was installed as part of PA 2.4.

Task Overview

While there are two notebook this week, the programming portion is quite limited. The important thing is to interpret the output. As the models need to run for 5 minutes each, time management is very important. We suggest the following:

• Start with Analysis_LP. Run through it once without changing any of the code. This is needed to answer question 1 and 2 in the report.
• Question 2 should be completed after the first run, but Question 3 can be done independently while you are waiting.
• Question 4 should be done after the notebook is run with the constraint added, and you need to complete Question 3 first.
• Analysis_GA should also be run once without any changes. This is needed to answer question 5.
• As you may want compare the solving times for the LP and GA, we recommend assigning one person to run both notebooks to ensure a consistent computing environment.

End of file.