mathematics PRO help (computer programming)

[schope]

Hey guys,

im a computer programmer, all i do is corporative systems, like ERP and shit. but some years ago i got bored of this shit and entered on the law school.

So, now i have a trouble.

Imagine a production line of a factory. I need to make a system that reads a wishlist and using a list of some different machines that have different speeds sizes, area and stuff and calculate what would be the best production schedulle for the factory.

I know some of combinatory analysis, but i just can calculate the possibilities of all this, even using all those "factors", but i would like to make an algorith to generate the best possibility.

So i was wondering if any of you guys got an example of an algorithm or an advance math book that explains some of this.

I think know a way to do this, but i guess it would take such long to run and use so much machine process. Ive never saw something like that. I guess someone did.

Can any of you help me ?

Thanks

[Evasive]

shut up and never post again

[Pressure Drop]

Imagine a production line of a factory. I need to make a system that reads a wishlist and using a list of some different machines that have different speeds sizes, area and stuff and calculate what would be the best production schedulle for the factory.



So i was wondering if any of you guys got an example of an algorithm or an advance math book that explains some of this.

i've done some higher mathematics but i don't think my knowledge would be able to help you. Specialy since i haven't done it for 5 years and i've forgotten a lot of it too. I have a mathematics for computing book and an mathematics for engineering book but these are for the first year of a degree and i've only read the chapters i needed at the time.

However it seems that your description of your problem is a bit vague even if my maths was better i wouldn't understand what you need or what sort of things to factor into an algorithm for things like wishlist or stuff. I know english isn't your first language comming from brazil but if you reword these paragraphs maybe some maths buff would find it easier to answer you.


Could also be a generic question that i don't understand

[Lethe]

Luckily for you, someone already solved that problem like 50 years ago. Its called PERT. Go research that.

http://www.sce.carleton.ca/faculty/c.../Chapter11.pdf

With that you can find the critical path for an assembly and optimize it depending on what process depends on another and how long each process takes.

[schope]

i've done some higher mathematics but i don't think my knowledge would be able to help you. Specialy since i haven't done it for 5 years and i've forgotten a lot of it too. I have a mathematics for computing book and an mathematics for engineering book but these are for the first year of a degree and i've only read the chapters i needed at the time.

However it seems that your description of your problem is a bit vague even if my maths was better i wouldn't understand what you need or what sort of things to factor into an algorithm for things like wishlist or stuff. I know english isn't your first language comming from brazil but if you reword these paragraphs maybe some maths buff would find it easier to answer you.


Could also be a generic question that i don't understand

Sorry for my english. but ill try to explain it again

Imagine that ive got a list of delivers of products (with different caracteristics) that a factory needs to produce. And ive got a list of machines (with different caracteristics) that im going to use for this production.

With all those factors, i wanned to find the best schedule for all this.

Seems that lethe gave me a big light. Thanks for that lethe. Ill read this and try to find some book.

The fact is that the industry i work at has terrible old bad functional systems. They asked me to generate a schedule, they didnt said it would have to be the best option. Also i dont have a high ultra power machine to process that.

Alright thanks, and if anyone else has another option/solution i would be glad to read.

[Fallen Angel]

Sounds like a non-deterministic problem to me.
If it is, then there is no algorithm that can calculate the best (most optimal) schedule. The only way to guarentee you'll end up with the most optimal schedual is by way of brute forcing the problem i.e. calculate every possible combination.

[iLDuce]

Being an IT Major, I probably should know this.

[schope]

Sounds like a non-deterministic problem to me.
If it is, then there is no algorithm that can calculate the best (most optimal) schedule. The only way to guarentee you'll end up with the most optimal schedual is by way of brute forcing the problem i.e. calculate every possible combination.

I was thinking about it, but it wouldnt be possible to get such a powerful machine to do this.

"An example of a combinatorial question is the following: What is the number of possible orderings of a deck of 52 playing cards? That number equals 52! (i.e., "fifty-two factorial"). It may seem surprising that this number, about 8.065817517094 × 1067, is so large —a little bit more than 8 followed by 67 zeros! Comparing that number to some other large numbers, it is greater than the square of Avogadro's number, 6.022 × 1023." (wikipedia)

So, now imagine a simple "for" instruction running at any programming language. it would take a very long time to do this.

As second thought, i was thinking about using some relevance "standarts" (dont know if i could explain well in english) like (value/quantity/date of deliver) and put the hardest ones to mach in first. Just like the way you do a crossword, still i guess it wouldnt get me the optimal solution.

I guess ill try reading that pert thing now.

[Lethe]

Yeah, its an NP problem. You'll just need to make a PERT diagram and figure out where you can change things.

[Verthanthi]

So, now imagine a simple "for" instruction running at any programming language. it would take a very long time to do this.

What if we ran it in a while loop?

[Sleepy Weasel]

I took a class in algorithm design once. I could maybe suggest some that might be relevant if you don't need this right away, but I'd have to skim through some of the stuff from the class that I don't have on me right now.

[Epinephrine]

Ug NP... I hate NP problems. My 3rd year advanced algorithms class which featured NPC NP and P was my worst mark in university. The cool thing though is that the guy who invented NP-Complete taught at my university, although he taught the fall semester course and I took the winter semeseter course

[Zemyla]

The answer is 20.

No, actually, the solution to these large NP-complete problems will have to wait until quantum computing.

[Lethe]

The answer is 20.

No, actually, the solution to these large NP-complete problems will have to wait until quantum computing.

How can that be if both normal computers and quantum computers are turing machines? What you have to prove is that N = NP. Have fun with that one. In the mean time, I'm pretty sure the PERT thing I mentioned before is ideal for the situation.

[Sleepy Weasel]

You mean P=NP. Dumbass

Hi lethe.