Presenter's name: Jodelson Aguilar Sabino
University: ULB - IRIDIA
Position: Visiting PhD student
Presentation Title: ACO Applied to Switch Engine Scheduling in a 
Railroad Yard
Presentation Preference: Oral
Abstract:
This research studies ACO algorithms for the switch engine scheduling in 
a Railroad Yard. The cars are moved individually or grouped into blocks 
by a set of locomotives called switch engines which are dedicated to 
moving around the cars in the yard. The need for moving comes from the 
fact that the arriving trains are disassembled into blocks of cars, 
undergo some operations like, loading, unloading and cleaning and 
finally are assembled into a new train. Each moving request is called a 
switch order. The decision of which switch engine will execute which 
switch order and the sequence of that executution is the core of our 
problem. The optimization of this schedule reduces the overall 
operational costs of the yard as well as the time to assemble new 
trains, thus leading to a more productive railroad system.
This project is being developed together with industrial professionals 
from the Tubarao Railroad Yard, located in Vitoria, Brazil, which is the 
largest railroad yard in Latin America.