Constraint-Based Scheduling with Complex Setup Operations: An Iterative Two-Layer Approach

In this paper, we consider scheduling problems involving resources that must perform complex setup operations between the tasks they realize. To deal with such problems, we introduce a simple yet efficient iterative two-layer decision process that alternates between the fast synthesis of high-level schedules based on a coarse-grain model of setup operations, and the production of detailed schedules based on a fine-grain model. Experiments realized on representative benchmarks of a multi-robot application show the efficiency of the approach.