Improving efficiency and cost of ordering algorithms in pathfinding using shell layers

Abstract

Optimal path planning is a fundamental problem in artificial intelligence (AI) and has wide applications in areas such as robotics, transportation, and logistics. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for ordering algorithms in pathfinding problems using the concept of shell layers. Our approach aims to improve the computational efficiency and distance cost of ordering algorithms. To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we compare it with five state-of-the-art techniques commonly used in the field of ordering algorithms on eight different scenarios with varying configurations. Our results show that our proposed approach outperformed the state-of-the-art techniques in terms of time-computational complexity and distance cost in most of the scenarios, demonstrating its potential as a new state-of-the-art technique for ordering algorithms. Specifically, our approach outperformed the nearest neighbor, A*, branch and bound, Christofides, and genetics ordering algorithms. However, we also identified two specific situations where our approach was outperformed by two state-of-the-art algorithms due to the specific distribution of the goal nodes. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating and comparing ordering algorithms in various scenarios. Our approach has significant implications for AI research and development, as it has the potential to improve the performance of pathfinding algorithms in various applications. We also discuss the limitations of our approach and potential areas for further research, such as investigating the effectiveness of our approach in different types of graphs and exploring the potential use of machine learning techniques to optimize the shell layer construction. The code for this study is available at https://github.com/abdullah1aloush1/MuGONA.