Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2017

Approximate Dynamic Programming for Dynamic Vehicle Routing

Authors:

  • First monograph to provide a comprehensive overview of stochastic dynamic vehicle routing problems (SDVRPs)
  • Demonstrates the advantages of the approximate dynamic programming (ADP) compared to conventional heuristics
  • Accompanies the ADP methodology with illustrative examples from the field of SDVRPs
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series (ORCS, volume 61)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxv
  2. Introduction

    • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
    Pages 1-11
  3. Dynamic Vehicle Routing

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
    2. Rich Vehicle Routing: Environment

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 15-24
    3. Rich Vehicle Routing: Applications

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 25-39
    4. Modeling

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 41-61
    5. Anticipation

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 63-69
    6. Anticipatory Solution Approaches

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 71-102
    7. Literature Classification

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 103-113
  4. Stochastic Customer Requests

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115
    2. Motivation

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 117-122
    3. SDVRP with Stochastic Requests

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 123-129
    4. Solution Algorithms

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 131-146
    5. Computational Evaluation

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 147-176
    6. Conclusion and Outlook

      • Marlin Wolf Ulmer
      Pages 177-181
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 183-197

About this book

This book provides a straightforward overview for every researcher interested in stochastic dynamic vehicle routing problems (SDVRPs). The book is written for both the applied researcher looking for suitable solution approaches for particular problems as well as for the theoretical researcher looking for effective and efficient methods of stochastic dynamic optimization and approximate dynamic programming (ADP). To this end, the book contains two parts. In the first part, the general methodology required for modeling and approaching SDVRPs is presented. It presents adapted and new, general anticipatory methods of ADP tailored to the needs of dynamic vehicle routing.  Since stochastic dynamic optimization is often complex and may not always be intuitive on first glance, the author accompanies the ADP-methodology with illustrative examples from the field of SDVRPs.


The second part of this book then depicts the application of the theory to a specific SDVRP. The process starts from the real-world application. The author describes a SDVRP with stochastic customer requests often addressed in the literature,  and then shows in detail how this problem can be modeled as a Markov decision process and presents several anticipatory solution approaches based on ADP. In an extensive computational study, he shows the advantages of the presented approaches compared to conventional heuristics. To allow deep insights in the functionality of ADP, he presents a comprehensive analysis of the ADP approaches.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Fakultät, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Marlin Wolf Ulmer

About the author

Marlin Ulmer is a Graduate in Mathematics and owns a Doctorate Degree in Economics. He is currently a Research Associate at the Carl-Friedrich Gauß Department of the Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany. His main research field is Prescriptive Analytics in Transportation. His particular research interests are Vehicle Routing, Stochastic Optimization, and Approximate Dynamic Programming.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access