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Stephen F. Smith
The Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213
sfs@cs.cmu.edu
4122688811
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Outline
• What is Scheduling?
• Current State of the Art: ConstraintBased
Scheduling Models
• Is Scheduling a Solved Problem?
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What is Scheduling?
Allocation of resources to activities over time so that input
demands are met in a timely and costeffective manner
Most typically, this involves determining a set of activity start
and end times, together with resource assignments, which
• satisfy all temporal constraints on activity execution
(following from process considerations)
• satisfy resource capacity constraints, and
• optimize some set of performance objectives to the extent
possible
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A Basic Scheduling Problem
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A More Complex Scheduling
Problem
Origin
SeaPOE
AirPOD
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Scheduling Research:
The Last 10 Years
• Major advances in techniques for solving
practical problems
• Constraint solving frameworks
• Incremental mathematical programming models
• Metaheuristic search procedures
• Several significant success stories
• Commercial enterprises and tools
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ConstraintBased Scheduling
Models
Components:
Properties:
• Modeling Generality/Expressiveness
• Incrementality
• Compositional
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What is a CSP?
Given a triple {V,D,C}, where
• V = set of decision variables
• D = set of domains for variables in V
• C = set of constraints on the values of
variables in V
Find a consistent assignment of values to
all variables in V
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A Basic CSP Procedure
1. [Consistency Enforcement] Propagate constraints to establish
the current set vd of feasible values for each unassigned variable d
2. If vd = Ø for any variable d , backtrack
3. If no unassigned variables or no consistent assignments for all
variables, quit; Otherwise
4. [Variable Ordering] Select an unassigned variable d to assign
5. [Value Ordering] Select a value from vd to assign to d.
6. Go to step 1
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Formulating Scheduling
Problems as CSPs
“Fixed times” model
• Find a consistent assignment of start times to activities
• Variables are activity start times
Disjunctive graph model
• Post sufficient additional precedence constraints between pairs of activities to
eliminate resource contention
• Variables are ordering decisions
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A Simple Job Shop Scheduling
CSP
Variables: start times (stj,i ) Domain: [0,12]
R1 R3
Job2 : O2,1 O2,2
[0,12] [0,12]
R2
Job3 : O3,1 O3,2 O3,3
[0,12] [0,12] [0,12]
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Constraint Propagation
Deductive process of inferring additional
constraints from existing constraints as
decisions are made
Two roles:
• Early pruning of the search space by eliminating
infeasible assignments
• Detection of constraint conflicts
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Some Constraint Propagation
Terminology
Kconsistency guarantees that any locally consistent instantiation of
(K1) variables is extensible to any Kth variable
Example: 2consistency (“arcconsistency”)
Complexity: Enforcing Kconsistency is (in general) exponential in K
• Forward Checking: partial arcconsistency only involving
constraints between an instantiated
variable and a noninstantiated one
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Temporal Constraint Propagation
through Precedence Constraints
Assume dui,j = 3 for all Oi,j
• Before propagation:
• Forward propagation
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Capacity Constraint Propagation
Observation: Enforcing consistency with respect
to capacity constraints is more difficult due to
the disjunctive nature of these constraints
Forward Checking:
O1,1 Scheduled to start at time 6
[6,6]
R1
Before propagation: [6,12]
O2,1 After propagation: [9,12]
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Pruning Operation Ordering
Alternatives
Example: Erschler’s dominance conditions
OP k
OP j
OP i
10 20 30
S = {OP ,OP }; O = OP Start Time OP ≥ 25
i j k k
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More Complex Temporal
Constraints
“Simple Temporal Problem” (STP) [Dechter91]
• Edgeweighted graph of time points expressing
constraints of the form: a≤ tpj− tpi≤ b
• Assuming no disjunction, allows incorporation of
• Temporal relations:
•finishtostart <0, ∞> (precedence)
•starttofinish <t1,t2> (duration)
•Starttostart <0,0> (samestart)
•...
• Metric bounds: offsets from time origin
• Efficiently solved via allpairs shortest path
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ConstraintPosting Scheduling
Models
•Conduct search in the space of ordering
decisions
• variables Ordering(i,j,R) for operations i
and j contending for resource R
• values i before j, j before i
•Constraint posting and propagation in the
underlying temporal constraint network
(time points and distances)
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Search Heuristics
(Variable and Value Ordering)
• Slack/Temporal Flexibility
• Choose pair of activities with least sequencing flexibility
• Post sequencing constraint that leaves the most slack
• Resource Demand/Contention
• Identify bottleneck resource
• Schedule (or sequence) those activities contributing most to demand
• Minimal critical sets
• Generalization to multicapacity resources
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Search Control
• Backtrackingbased search
• LeastDiscrepancy Search
• Iterative Restarting with randomized
heuristics
• Local search Tabu, GAs, etc.
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The Broader Picture
Constraint posting provides a framework for integrating planning and
scheduling
• contemporary temporal planners operate with analogous representational
assumptions
• E.g., IXTET, HSTS/RAX, COMIREM, …
• “ConstraintBased Interval Planning” [D. Smith 00]
Constraint posting is a relatively unexplored approach to scheduling with
several advantages
• more flexible solutions
• simple heuristics can yield high performance solution techniques under a
wide variety of problem constraints
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Technological Strengths
• Scalability
• Modeling flexibility
• Optimization
• Configurable
So, Is scheduling a solved problem?
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What is Scheduling (Again)?
Classic view:
• Scheduling is a puzzle solving activity
• Given problem constraints and objective criterion,
figure out how to best tile the capacity over time
surface with operations
• Research agenda specify new puzzles and/or
provide new best solutions
i j
OP1,1 OP1,2 OP1,3
st(i) + p(i) ≤ st(j), where p(i)
rd1 is the processing time of op i
dd1 R1 OP2,1 OP1,2
R1 R2
i R j
rd(j) ≤ st(i) for each op i of job j
rd2 dd2
Minimize ∑ |c(j) dd(j)|
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What’s Missing from the
Classical View of Scheduling
Practical problems can rarely be formulated as
static optimization tasks
• Ongoing iterative process
• Situated in a larger problemsolving context
• Dynamic, unpredictable environment
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Managing Change
“Scheduling” is really an ongoing process of
responding to change
Manufacturing
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Approaches to Managing Change
• Build schedules that retain flexibility
• Produce schedules that promote localized
recovery
• Incremental rescheduling techniques (e.g.,
that consider “continuity” as an objective
criteria)
• Selfscheduling control systems
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Incremental Schedule Repair
Several competing approaches to maintaining solution stability
• Minimally disruptive schedule revision (temporal delay, resource
area, etc.)
• Prioritybased change
• Regeneration with preference for same decisions
Little understanding of how these techniques stack up against
each other
Even less understanding of how to trade stability concerns off
against (re)optimization needs
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DelayedCommitment
Scheduling Procedures
Identify a contention peak and post a leveling constraint
Activity 2 Activity 2
R1 Activity 1 Activity 1
R1
Advantages
• Retain flexibility implied by problem
constraints (time and capacity)
• Can establish conditions for guaranteed
executability
Some open questions:
• Extended conditions for “Dispatchability”
• Robustness versus optimization
• Use of knowledge about domain
uncertainties
• Local search with robust representations
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SelfScheduling Systems
• Distribute decisionmaking among
individual entities (machines, tools, parts,
operators; manufacturers, suppliers)
• Specify local behaviors and protocols for
interaction
• Robust, emergent global behavior
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Morley’s GM Paint Shop System
Paint
Bid Booth Bid parameters:
1
same color as
Dispatcher Announcement last truck
(new truck) space in queue
empty queue
Paint
Bid Booth
“If bid for same color then award
else if empty booth then award 2
else if queue space then award”
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Tradeoffs
Advantages:
• Complexity reduction
• Simple, configurable software systems
• Robust to component failures
• More stable computational load
Problems:
• No understanding of global optima (or how to achieve global
behavior that attends to specific performance goals)
• Prediction only at aggregate level (can become unstable)
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Adaptive Systems:
“Routing Wasps” in the Factory
Machine
1 RWasp P(route|ST,ØT) = _________ S T
2
Agent1
ST2 + ØT2
Machine
2
.. RWasp
Agent2
B C
. A Jobs B
RWasp A
Machine AgentN C Stimulus:
N B SB
Response Thresholds:
ØA, ØB, ØC, ...
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Updating Response Thresholds
ØT = ØT – ∆1 if next job is same type as current job
ØT = ØT + ∆2 if next job is a different type
ØT = ØT – ∆3 if the machine is currently idle
• Routing framework can be seen as an adaptive variant of Morley’s bidding
rule
• Experimental results showing significant performance improvement
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Some Open Issues in Multi
Agent Scheduling
• Selfscheduling approaches do not preclude the use of
advance schedules
• How to incorporate?
• Opportunistic optimization
• Cooperative, distributed scheduling is a fact of life in
many domains (geographic constraints, autonomous
business entities, etc.)
• How to negotiate and compromise?
• Can selfinterest be compatible with global performance
objectives?
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Integrating Planning & Scheduling
“Planning & scheduling are rarely separable”
Waterfall Model
Planner
Plan Schedule
Scheduler
Mixed-Initiative Model
Plan
Planner
Scheduler
Schedule
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Design Issues
• Integrated search space versus separable sub
spaces
• Single solver versus interacting solvers
• Resourcedriven versus strategydriven
• Loose coupling versus tight coupling
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JFACC Planner/Scheduler
Plan Server
PLANS Constraint
HTN
SCHEDULES Based
Planner
ANNOTATIONS Scheduler
(SRI)
(CMU)
TRIGGERS
Technological Experimental
• Interleaved generation & • Simple, lowcost info. exchanges yield
repair of plans/schedules • Marked reduction in comp. time
• Distributed architecture to • Comparable plan/schedule quality
support remote collaboration • More complex models can improve
performance further
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Some Challenges that Remain
• Scheduling models that incorporate richer models of state
• Can integrated P & S problems really be solved as one big
optimization task?
• The limitations of SATstyle approaches
• How to achieve tighter interleaving of action selection and
resource allocation processes
• Managing change in this larger arena
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Requirements Analysis
“Scheduling is really a process of getting the constraints
right”
Current tools designed around a “Specify and Solve”
model of user/system interaction
• Inefficient problem solving cycle
MixedInitiative solution models
• Incremental solution of relaxed problems
• Iterative adjustment of problem constraints,
preferences, priorities
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Use of Relaxed Models to Identify
Resource Capacity Shortfalls
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The AMC Barrel Allocator
Domain: DaytoDay Management of Airlift & Tanker Assets
at the USAF Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Technical Capabilities:
• Efficient generation of airlift and tanker schedules
• Incremental solution change to accommodate new missions
and changes in resource availability over time
• Flexible control over degree of automation
• Selective, usercontrolled constraint relaxation and option
generation when constraints cannot be satisfied
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Parameterizable Search
Procedures
AssignMission:
C141, [t1,t2]
Configuration
Search Configurations
GenResources
Feasible - <GenRequestedRes ,GenIntervals ,EvalMinCompletion >
305th 437th 60th 62nd Delay - <GenRequestedRes , GenDelayInts , EvalMinTardiness >
AMW AMW AW AW
Over-Allocate - <GenRequestedRes , GenOverInts ,
GenIntervals
EvalMinOverUsage >
I1,305 I2,305 ... I1,437 I2,437 ... I1,60 I1,60 ... I1,62 ... Bump – <GenRequestedRes , GenBumpInts , EvalMinDisruption >
Alternative-MDS - < GenAlternRes , GenIntervals ,
EvalMinCompletion >
...
EvalCriteria Composite Relaxations - …
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Generate
Relaxation
Options
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MixedInitiative Scheduling
Challenges
• Management of user context across decision
cycles
• Explanation of scheduling decisions
• Why did you do this?
• Why didn’t you do that?
• Adjustable autonomy
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Research Directions for the Next
10 Years
• Deeper integration of AI and OR techniques
• Robust schedules and scheduling
• Global coherence through local interaction
• Extension to largerscoped problemsolving
processes
• Rapid construction of high performance
scheduling services
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