Exploration of a Two Sided Rendezvous Search Problem Using Genetic Algorithms

The problem of searching for a walker that wants to be found, when the walker moves toward the helicopter when it can hear it, is an example of a two sided search problem which is intrinsically difficult to solve. Thomas et al [1] considered the effectiveness of three standard NATO search paths [2] for this type of problem. In this paper a genetic algorithm is used to show that more effective search paths exist. In addition it is shown that genetic algorithms can be effective in finding a near optimal path of length 196 when searching a 14×14 cell area, that is a search space of 10100. . . .