1st week (10/02-14/02) Meeting, on Monday, with supervisor professor José Fernando Oliveira and co-supervisor Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar to receive orientations about the beginning of the work (read more) ; Literature review on the Shelf Space Allocation Problem (SSAP) and on combining metaheuristics and exact algorithms in combinatorial optimization. Problems: Nothing to declare.
2nd week (17/02-21/02) Familiarization with the mathematical model for the Shelf Space Allocation problem, applied to the case study (a Portuguese Supermarket Chain). Beginning of the implementation of the model in OPL, using CPLEX. Problems: Some doubts about the model, clarified with the help of the co-supervisor Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar.
3rd week (24/02-28/02) Implementation of the mathematical model in OPL (CPLEX). Transfer from the Laboratory of Operations Research to INESC Porto. Beginning the development of decoders for the Biased Random-key Genetic Algorithm (BRKGA). Conference from Maurício Resende (one of the creators of the BRKGA) in the University of Minho. Problems: Some difficulties in the implementation of the model in OPL, solved with the help of the co-supervisor.
4th week (3/03-7/03) Development of the decoder for the Biased Random-key Genetic Algorithm. Preparation of a presentation explaining the ideas for the decoder. Meeting on Thursday afternoon with the co-supervisor Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar, Luís Guimarães and Elsa Silva to present and discuss the ideas. (read more) Meeting on Friday morning with the co-supervisor Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar, the supervisor professor José Fernando Oliveira and professor Maria Antónia Carravilla to present and further discuss the ideas. (read more) Problems: Nothing to declare.
5th week (10/03-14/03) Implementation in C++ of the first idea for the decoder. Problems: Nothing to declare.
6th week (17/03-21/03) Continuing the implementation of the first idea for the decoder. Meeting, on Thursday, with co-supervisor Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar to discuss the progress, clarify doubts and plan the work. (read more) Problems: Nothing to declare.
7th week (24/03-28/03) Continuing the implementation and testing of the first idea for the decoder. Preparation of an abstract for applying to present the work at the Optimization 2014 Conference, in Guimarães. Meeting, on Tuesday, with co-supervisor Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar to discuss the implementation of the decoder. (read more) Meeting, on Friday, with co-supervisor Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar to discuss the abstract and plan the work for next week. (read more) Problems: The algorithm wasn't able to allocate all products in shelves. Changes were made in the original idea for the decoder to incorporate the possibility that allocation of all target facings in some cases might not be able to satisfy restrictions.
8th week (31/03-4/04) Continuing the implementation and testing of the first idea for the decoder. Beginning to write the first chapter of the dissertation. Problems: Nothing to declare.
9th week (7/04-11/04) Continuing the implementation and testing of the first idea for the decoder. Beginning to plan the dissertation structure. Meeting, on Wednesday, with co-supervisor to discuss the work progress and the dissertation structure. (read more) Problems: Nothing to declare.
10th week (14/04-18/04) Some improvements and testing of the first idea for the decoder. Problems: Nothing to declare.
11th week (21/04-25/04) Integration of the first idea for the decoder with the already implemented application to generate planograms. Problems: Nothing to declare.
12th week (28/04-02/05) Testing the first ideia for the decoder, now integrated in the application for planogram generation. Beginning to plan the second idea for the decoder. Problems: Some problems reading the data in the application due to the use of different versions of visual studio.
13th week (5/05-10/05) Continue to test the first idea for the decoder with case study instances and making some improvements. Continue the planning of the second idea for the decoder. Beginning to write the second chapter of the dissertation. Problems: Analyzing the planograms obtained, it was necessary to make some changes to incorporate the possibility of not allocating the minimum number of facings of a product. Also in some instances, too much space was left empty in the shelves.
14th week (12/05-17/05) Finishing the 2nd chapter of the dissertation. Making improvements in the first decoder. Problems: In some instances, too much space was left empty on shelves. Changes were made in the code to try to reduce the space left empty
15th week (19/05-24/05) Further testing of the first idea for the decoder. Developing the second idea for the decoder. Meeting, on Wednesday, with co-supervisor to discuss changes in the 2nd chapter of the dissertation and plan the work to be done. Meeting on Friday, with co-supervisor to discuss the second idea for the decoder. Problems: Nothing to declare.
16th week (26/05-30/05) Writing the 3rd chapter of the dissertation. Beginning the implementation of the second idea for the decoder in c++. Meeting, on Thursday, with co-supervisor, Luís Guimarães and Elsa Silva to discuss the 2nd decoder. Problems: Nothing to declare.
17th week (2/06-6/06) Writing the 4th chapter of the dissertation. Continuation of the implementation of the second idea for the decoder. Problems: Nothing to declare.
18th week (9/06-13/06) Finishing the 4th chapter of the dissertation. Continuation of the implementation of the second idea for the decoder. Analyzing results for the first idea for the decoder. Problems: Nothing to declare.
19th week (16/06-20/06) Making changes to the second and third chapters of the dissertation, according to the co supervisors notes. Finishing the second idea for the decoder and testing. Problems: Nothing to declare.
20th week (23/06-27/06) Finishing the dissertation Problems: Nothing to declare.