A Novel Vibration Damping Optimization Algorithm for Resource Constrained Multi- Project Scheduling Problem

In this paper, we propose a Vibration Damping Optimization (VDO) algorithm with resonator loop as a meta-heuristic algorithm for solving resource constrained multi-project scheduling problem (RCMPSP). The objective is to determine the start time of the projects activities such that the total completion time of processes under the existing constraints would be minimized. This is the first attempt to develop a VDO algorithm for solving the RCMPSP. Also, a new solution representation scheme in a matrix form and special solution procedures are proposed. We explain the elements of the algorithm and solve some problems generated for this model including large size and small size instances. The performance of our proposed algorithm is evaluated by comparison with Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm. The response surface methodology (RSM) is applied for tuning the parameters of the algorithms. The promising computational results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.