A Heuristic-Based Simulation for an Education Process to Learn about Optimization Applications in Logistics and Transportation

Abstract

In the context of the DigiLab4U international project, this paper describes a simulation-based serious game that can be used as a virtual teaching lab in higher education courses, especially in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Data Science, Management Science and Operations Research, as well as Computer Science. The learning activity focuses on understanding distribution logistics problems related to transportation optimization using different techniques. These optimization challenges include the vehicle routing problem, the arc routing problem, and the team orienteering problem. As a result of the learning process in the virtual lab, it is expected that students acquire competencies and skills related to logistics and transportation challenges as well as problem-solving. These competencies and skills can be precious for students’ future careers, since they increase students’ analytical skills, capacity to understand heuristic-based algorithms, teamwork and interdisciplinary communication skills, programming skills, and statistical abilities. A preliminary version of this training activity has already been used in MSc and PhD courses held at universities in Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal.

Serious Games in Higher Education in the Transforming Process to Education 4.0—Systematized Review

“…Points are awarded in seven other games, but never without using an additional game element [27,32,35,37,39,41,50]. Similarly, the element of challenge is mostly used in combination with other elements [27,28,31,35,[37][38][39][40]49]. Only in one of the nine games, the one from the logistics area, are challenges exclusively used as an element [38].…”

“…Similarly, the element of challenge is mostly used in combination with other elements [27,28,31,35,[37][38][39][40]49]. Only in one of the nine games, the one from the logistics area, are challenges exclusively used as an element [38]. Five of the games employ puzzles [27,28,[30][31][32], three use surprising or random elements [29,39,41], two use ranks [28,32], and two character advancement [28,41].…”

“…The work aims to provide feedback based on the emotional state. The other games in this area have the purpose of motivating or engaging students [32,33,41,43,45,48], or increasing the learning effect [29,30,33,35,[37][38][39][40][46][47][48].…”

“…The game from the field of pharmacy and the one from the field of logistics, in addition to the goal of imparting knowledge, also pursue the goal of enhancing teamwork [38,45,46]. The game presented by Ammouriova et al requires solving challenges in teams and thus calls for leadership and task management skills [38]. In the case of the game for pharmacy students, a real pharmacy is simulated.…”

Collecting and Delivering Fattened Pigs to the Abattoir

“…Provide a conceptual description of the problem of marketing fattened pigs to the abattoir from the abattoir's perspective. • Formulate a Team Orienteering Problem (TOP) and solve it for large instances using an algorithm that extends the Panadero-Juan savings (PJS) heuristic [12].…”