Optimization of ship command and dispatch in the waters between the three gorges dams based on GP algorithm

At present, the backlog of ships passing through the Three Gorges has become the norm, and the difference between the passing capacity of the Three Gorges-Gezhouba locks and the passing capacity of the waters between the two dams has led to a reduction in the efficiency of ship navigation through the locks and an increase in the difficulty of control. In view of the above problems, this paper constructs an optimization model for the control and command of formation ship groups under the existing ship navigation rules, taking into account the safety distance to be maintained between ship groups, the continuity of navigation and other realistic constraints, with the objective of minimizing the imbalance between navigation time and delay time. Based on the characteristics that the ship navigation process is similar to the processing operation in the production plant, a heuristic scheduling rule set and Genetic Programming (GP) algorithm are established for the solution. The research results show that the method of determining the navigation order of vessel groups by generating composite dispatching rules (CDR) with GP algorithm can reduce the navigation time of vessels crossing the gate in the waters between two dams and effectively improve the fairness of scheduling, while meeting the requirements of vessel navigation rules and safety.