Genetic algorithms and the problem of timetables

In this paper the authors present an application of genetic algorithms to the timetable problem. They introduce genetic algorithms and define the timetable problem. The authors then give a representation of the problem suitable for the application of genetic algorithms. They also define new genetic operators and a fitness function that relates the quality of solutions to the value of the objective function. The authors give the objective function a hierarchical structure to ease the handling of objectives of different importance. At the end of the paper, they report about some computational results obtained applying the system, implemented on a IBM-compatible PC, to a real problem: the timetable of a high school of Milan.