A Double Evolutionary Pool Memetic Algorithm for Examination Timetabling Problems

A double evolutionary pool memetic algorithm is proposed to solve the examination timetabling problem. To improve the performance of the proposed algorithm, two evolutionary pools, that is, the main evolutionary pool and the secondary evolutionary pool, are employed. The genetic operators have been specially designed to fit the examination timetabling problem. A simplified version of the simulated annealing strategy is designed to speed the convergence of the algorithm. A clonal mechanism is introduced to preserve population diversity. Extensive experiments carried out on 12 benchmark examination timetabling instances show that the proposed algorithm is able to produce promising results for the uncapacitated examination timetabling problem.

Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Solving Educational Timetabling Problems

This paper presents an artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) for Education Timetabling Problem (ETP). It is aimed at developing a good-quality solution for the problem. The initial population of solutions was generated using Saturation Degree (SD) and Backtracking Algorithm (BA) to ensure the feasibility of the solutions. At the improvement stage in the solution method, ABC uses neighbourhood structures iteratively within the employed and onlooker bee operators, in order to rigorously navigate the UTP search space. The technique was evaluated using curriculum-based course timetabling (CB-CTT) and Uncapacitated Examination Timetabling Problem (UETP) problem instances. The experimental results on UETP showed that the technique is comparable with other state-of-the-art techniques and provides encouraging results on CB-CTT.