Evolutionary Computational Approaches to Solving the Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem Using a Neighborhood Attractor Schema

This paper presents a variation of the Euclidean Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), the Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem (MTSP), and compares a variety of evolutionary computation algorithms and paradigms for solving it. Techniques implemented, analyzed, and discussed herein with regard to MTSP include use of a neighborhood attractor schema (a variation on k-means clustering), the “shrink-wrap” algorithm for local neighborhood optimization, particle swarm optimization, Monte-Carlo optimization, and a range of genetic algorithms and evolutionary strategies.