Task Scheduling of Parallel Development Projects Using Genetic Algorithms

Resources for development projects are often scarce in the real world. Generally, many projects are to be completed that rely on a common pool of resources. Besides resource constraints, there exists data dependency among tasks within each project. A genetic algorithm approach with one-point uniform crossover and a refresh operator is proposed to minimize the overall duration or makespan of multiple projects in a resource constrained multi project scheduling problem (RCMPSP) without violating inter-project resource constraints or intra-project precedence constraints. The proposed GA incorporates stochastic feedback or rework of tasks. It has the capability of capturing the local optimum for each generation and therefore ensuring a global best solution. The proposed Genetic Algorithm, with several variants of GA parameters is tested on sample scheduling problems with and without stochastic feedback. This algorithm demonstrates to provide a quick convergence to a global optimal solution and detect the most likely makespan range for parallel projects of tasks with stochastic feedback.