Travelling salesman problem is no more a problem but a Backbreaking task

 Travelling Salesman problem (TSP) is a problem that has perplexed many over the years. The problem statement remains the same right from its existence- “Given a list of cities and the distances between each pair of cities, what is the shortest possible route that visits each city and returns to the origin city?”

TSP has been studied for decades and several solutions have been theorized. The simplest solution is to try all possibilities, but that proves to be the most time consuming and expensive method.

Let’s consider an interesting study which denotes that a simple Bee can solve the travel salesman problem. According to a study published in Scientific Reports on Dec. 11, 2017, the flight of a bumblebee becomes more efficient over time. They discovered that Bees are in a continual process of optimizing their routes. The experiment suggests that the small-brained bugs are capable of solving complex routing issues, skillfully contending with what’s known as “the traveling salesperson problem.”

In the experiment, scientists tracked the insects over two days as they explored the paths and developed routes. The results suggest that bees establish favorite paths early on and follow them regularly, limiting exploration with time. They never become completely set in their ways. These findings could be very beneficial for technologists developing machines to navigate. The research team also believes their work can benefit other fields of study.

Now let us consider the basic problem itself ,If we were to optimize the logistics of a travelling salesman, the present-day application of it has the most monetary pressure than ever in history.

Let’s assume one truck driver makes 5 stops in a day where the truck has to stop at 3 places to pick up milk gallons and returning to the point of origin. We allocate costs between rides, without repeating the same route and therefore solving the TSP to arrive at the minimum cost. There is an immense scope of optimizing such routes with the help of technology. It’s just a matter of discovering what problem first and how or why they need to be solved.

Walk around the city and find people and vehicles grappling with a TSP kind of situation. What’s fascinating about all this is how critical solving the TSP is to the movement of goods and services from one place. Many doubt whether TSP can be solved but a solution which does all necessary calculations effectively and delivers goods promptly on time does exist. The businesses that invest in route optimization algorithms have reported up to 40% savings when it comes to driving time and fuel costs. Don’t Believe it? Try Geoconcept.