Constraint Programming in Practice: Scheduling a Rehearsal

Abstract

The talk will introduce the principles of constraint programming (constraint satisfaction problems, search, constraint propagation) by discussing how constraint programming can be used to solve a specific optimization problem. The problem requires finding a sequence for a set of orchestral pieces to be rehearsed that will minimize the time that players are at the rehearsal but not playing, if they arrive for the first piece they are involved in and leave after the last. A very similar problem arises in scheduling the shooting of a film.