A Cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) for Precedence Constrained Sequencing Problem (PCSP)

Precedence constrained sequencing problem (PCSP) is related to locate the optimal sequence with the shortest traveling time among all feasible sequences. In PCSP, precedence relations determine sequence of traveling between any two nodes. Various methods and algorithms for effectively solving the PCSP have been suggested. In this paper we propose a cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) for effectively solving PCSP. CSA is inspired by the life of a bird named cuckoo. As basic CSA at first was introduced to solve continuous optimization problem, in this paper to find the optimal sequence of the PCSP, some schemes are proposed with modifications in operators of the basic CSA to solve discrete precedence constrained sequencing problem. To evaluate the performance of proposed algorithm, several instances with different sizes from the literature are tested in this paper. Computational results show the good performance of the proposed algorithm in comparison with the best results of the literature.