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Optimal rectangle packing

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  • Richard Korf
  • Michael Moffitt
  • Martha Pollack

Abstract

We consider the NP-complete problem of finding an enclosing rectangle of minimum area that will contain a given a set of rectangles. We present two different constraint-satisfaction formulations of this problem. The first searches a space of absolute placements of rectangles in the enclosing rectangle, while the other searches a space of relative placements between pairs of rectangles. Both approaches dramatically outperform previous approaches to optimal rectangle packing. For problems where the rectangle dimensions have low precision, such as small integers, absolute placement is generally more efficient, whereas for rectangles with high-precision dimensions, relative placement will be more effective. In two sets of experiments, we find both the smallest rectangles and squares that can contain the set of squares of size 1×1, 2×2,…,N×N, for N up to 27. In addition, we solve an open problem dating to 1966, concerning packing the set of consecutive squares up to 24×24 in a square of size 70×70. Finally, we find the smallest enclosing rectangles that can contain a set of unoriented rectangles of size 1×2, 2×3, 3×4,…,N×(N+1), for N up to 25. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Korf & Michael Moffitt & Martha Pollack, 2010. "Optimal rectangle packing," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 261-295, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:179:y:2010:i:1:p:261-295:10.1007/s10479-008-0463-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10479-008-0463-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sándor P. Fekete & Jörg Schepers & Jan C. van der Veen, 2007. "An Exact Algorithm for Higher-Dimensional Orthogonal Packing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 55(3), pages 569-587, June.
    2. Clautiaux, Francois & Carlier, Jacques & Moukrim, Aziz, 2007. "A new exact method for the two-dimensional orthogonal packing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(3), pages 1196-1211, December.
    3. Silvano Martello & David Pisinger & Daniele Vigo, 2000. "The Three-Dimensional Bin Packing Problem," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 48(2), pages 256-267, April.
    4. Sándor P. Fekete & Jörg Schepers, 2004. "A Combinatorial Characterization of Higher-Dimensional Orthogonal Packing," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 353-368, May.
    5. Sándor P. Fekete & Jörg Schepers, 2004. "A General Framework for Bounds for Higher-Dimensional Orthogonal Packing Problems," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 60(2), pages 311-329, October.
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    Cited by:

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    5. Silva, Allyson & Coelho, Leandro C. & Darvish, Maryam & Renaud, Jacques, 2022. "A cutting plane method and a parallel algorithm for packing rectangles in a circular container," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 303(1), pages 114-128.

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