Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Large Scale Set Partitioning Problems

Set partitioning problems are among NP-Hard problems due to their complexities. It is difficult to prepare an algorithm that will give a precise solution in these types of problems which are difficult to solve. This study proposes a genetic algorithm based approach among artificial intelligence optimization algorithms in order to find simpler solutions to set partitioning problems. The proposed method was applied to the solution of problem of partitioning the 53 teams in the Turkish Third League into 5 subsets. The distribution of the teams into subsets was undertaken with the aim of minimizing the travel costs and the travel fatigue and preventing the subjective distinctions in the determination of subsets. This study was carried out for 2009-2010 football season and it includes a comparison of the plan prepared by Turkish Football Federation with the plan obtained through the study. The application software was developed by using C# programming language of .Net technologies.