Energy-efficient Routing of Hybrid Vehicles

TL;DR

This paper addresses energy-efficient routing for hybrid vehicles by formulating a generalized constrained shortest path problem with resource conversion, providing polynomial-time approximation algorithms for optimal path computation.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized CSP model for hybrid vehicle routing, demonstrating polynomial-time approximation schemes and conditions to avoid cycles in optimal paths.

Findings

Existence of cycles in optimal paths and conditions to prevent them

Development of a polynomial-time approximation scheme

Provision of a simpler approximation algorithm

Abstract

We consider a constrained shortest path problem with two resources. These two resources can be converted into each other in a particular manner. Our practical application is the energy optimal routing of hybrid vehicles. Due to the possibility of converting fuel into electric energy this setting adds new characteristics and new combinatorial possibilities to the common constrained shortest path problem (CSP). We formulate the resulting problem as a generalization of CSP. We show that optimal paths in this model may contain cycles and we state conditions to prevent them. The main contribution is a polynomial-time approximation scheme and a simpler approximation algorithm for computing energy-optimal paths in graphs.