A parallel multi-population genetic algorithm for a constrained two-dimensional orthogonal packing problem

This paper addresses a constrained two-dimensional (2D), non-guillotine restricted, packing problem, where a xed set of small rectangles has to be placed into a larger stock rectangle so as to maximize the value of the rectangles packed. The algorithm we propose hybridizes a novel placement procedure with a genetic algorithm based on random keys. We propose also a new tness function to drive the optimization. The approach is tested on a set of instances taken from the literature and compared with other approaches. The experimental results validate the quality of the solutions and the e ectiveness of the proposed algorithm.