Efficient Airspace Scheduling for Military Exercises: A 3D Bin Packing Approach
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Research
3D Bin Packing Problem, Airspace Allocation, Scheduling Optimization
Abstract
Emerald Flag is a military exercise hosted by the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. In its latest iteration, 10 aircraft platforms flew 26 total missions over two days. The current manual airspace allocation process is not only highly time-consuming but also growing exponentially in complexity as more participants join. Our project aims to minimize time dedicated to scheduling by developing a 3D Bin Packing Problem (3D-BPP) model limited by unique airspace assignment constraints. Our model's objective is to maximize the number of missions per day while adhering to safety requirements. Utilizing scheduling requests crafted by the 96th, we find the model generates a feasible schedule in 80 fewer work-hours than current processes and increases daily mission capacity by 18 missions while maintaining operational safety. In conclusion, the 3D-BPP model is a flexible, efficient solution for military test range scheduling that is easily adaptable for similar exercises.
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References
George, J. A. (1992). A Method for Solving Container Packing for a Single Size of Box. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 43(4), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.2307/2583153
Lim, A., Rodrigues, B. & Yang, Y. (2005). 3-D Container Packing Heuristics. Applied Intelligence 22, 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-005-5601-03
Martello, S., Pisinger, D., & Vigo, D. (2000). The Three-Dimensional Bin Packing Problem. Operations Research, 48(2), 256–267. http://www.jstor.org/stable/223143
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