A Meta-Heuristic algorithm for Set covering problem Based on Gravity

A new Meta heuristic approach called ”Randomized gravitational emulation search algorithm (RGES)” for solving large size set covering problems has been designed. This algorithm is found upon introducing randomization concept along with the two of the four primary parameters ’velocity’ and ’gravity’ in physics. A new heuristic operator is introduced in the domain of RGES to maintain feasibility specifically for the set covering problem to yield best solutions. The performance of this algorithm has been evaluated on a large set of benchmark problems from OR-library. Computational results showed that the randomized gravitational emulation search algorithm based heuristic is capable of producing high quality solutions. The performance of this heuristic when compared with other existing heuristic algorithms is found to be excellent in terms of solution quality. Keywords—Set covering Problem, Velocity, Gravitational Force, Newton’s Law, Meta Heuristic, Combinatorial optimization.