Method of sentinels for packing items within arbitrary convex regions

A new method is introduced for packing items in convex regions of the Euclidian n-dimensional space. By means of this approach the packing problem becomes a global finite-dimensional continuous optimization problem. The strategy is based on the new concept of sentinels. Sentinels sets are finite subsets of the items to be packed such that, when two items are superposed, at least one sentinel of one item is in the interior of the other. Minimal sets of sentinels are found in simple two-dimensional cases. Numerical experiments and pictures showing the potentiality of the new technique are presented.