<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The online 3D bin packing problem(3D-BPP) is widely used in the logistics industry and is of great practical significance for promoting the intelligent transformation of the industry. The heuristic algorithm relies too much on manual experience to formulate more perfect packing rules. In recent years, many scholars solve 3D-BPP via deep reinforcement learning(DRL) algorithms. However, they ignore many skills used in manual packing, one of the most important skill is workers put the item aside if the item is packed improperly. Inspired by this skill, we propose a DRL algorithm with a buffer zone. Firstly, we define the wasted space and the buffer zone. And then, we integrate them into the DRL algorithm framework. Importantly, we compare the bin utilization with di erent thresholds of wasted space and di erent buffer zone sizes. Experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms existing heuristic algorithms and DRL algorithms.</p>
</abstract>

The online 3D bin packing problem(3D-BPP) is widely used in the logistics industry and is of great practical significance for promoting the intelligent transformation of the industry. The heuristic algorithm relies too much on manual experience to formulate more perfect packing rules. In recent years, many scholars solve 3D-BPP via deep reinforcement learning(DRL) algorithms. However, they ignore many skills used in manual packing, one of the most important skill is workers put the item aside if the item is packed improperly. Inspired by this skill, we propose a DRL algorithm with a buffer zone. Firstly, we define the wasted space and the buffer zone. And then, we integrate them into the DRL algorithm framework. Importantly, we compare the bin utilization with di erent thresholds of wasted space and di erent buffer zone sizes. Experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms existing heuristic algorithms and DRL algorithms.

Online Three-Dimensional Bin Packing: A DRL Algorithm with the Buffer Zone

Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications

Foundations of Computing and Decision Sciences

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Online Three-Dimensional Bin Packing: A DRL Algorithm with the Buffer Zone"}

The online 3D bin packing problem(3D-BPP) is widely used in the logistics industry and is of great practical significance for promoting the intelligent...

Online Three-Dimensional Bin Packing: A DRL Algorithm with the Buffer Zone

Published Online: Feb 16, 2024

Page range: 63 - 74

Received: May 04, 2023

Accepted: Nov 16, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fcds-2024-0005

Keywords
3D bin packing, buffer zone, wasted space, actor-critic

© 2024 Jiawei Zhang et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Online Three-Dimensional Bin Packing: A DRL Algorithm with the Buffer Zone

Published Online: Feb 16, 2024

Page range: 63 - 74

Received: May 04, 2023

Accepted: Nov 16, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fcds-2024-0005

Keywords3D bin packing, buffer zone, wasted space, actor-critic

© 2024 Jiawei Zhang et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
3D bin packing, buffer zone, wasted space, actor-critic