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Foundation ::
Cargo and Packing Logistics ::
PACKMAN
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PACKMAN
Packing Manager Software for 3-Dimensional Cargo
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SOURCE CODE AVAILABLE
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PACKMAN is a computer program used to find near-optimal arrangements of cargo items in storage containers, subject to multiple packing objectives such as container volume utilization, container weight limit utilization, and other considerations. Determining how to pack cargo into a three-dimensional space of limited size while considering additional constraints is a very difficult combinatorial optimization problem faced by several areas of industry. Traditionally, deciding how to arrange a set of cargo has been determined manually by human experts, who must assess the characteristics of the set of cargo to be loaded and the constraints placed upon its loading. As the number and complexity of these constraints grows to more than a few, human experts may have difficulty or fail in finding near-optimal solutions.
PACKMAN allows users to specify a single rectangular container of arbitrary length, width and height, along with a set of cargo items, each of arbitrary rectangular dimensions and with specified characteristics, to attempt to pack into the container. The user is also allowed to specify the criteria for packing and the degree of importance placed on each criterion.
The automatic packing algorithm employed by PACKMAN attempts to find the best positioning of those cargo items in the container such that the container's volume and weight capacity are both utilized to the maximum extent possible. The problem of packing N cargo items into a container subject to constraints is in the class of nonlinear multidimensional knapsack and bin packing problems, which are well known to be NP-complete. As the number of items N increases, the number of possible solutions grows so large that determination of the optimal solution becomes infeasible. Thus, the best packing solution found by PACKMAN's automated algorithm for a particular combination of cargo items and container is not guaranteed to be the optimal solution; however, the problem solving method that PACKMAN uses, called simulated annealing, generates solutions that are usually within 23% of optimal.
PACKMAN carries the NASA case number MFS-28700. It was originally released as part of the COSMIC collection.
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