Feature Idea: Pickup & Delivery Constraint for Incompatible Order Combinations

[Kobe-Kwanten]

Feature Idea: Pickup & Delivery Constraint for Incompatible Order Combinations

I want to propose an idea for enhancing cuOpt’s pickup and delivery order constraints. Specifically, I think it could be very valuable to support a constraint that lets users define which order types can or cannot be combined in the same vehicle route.

Use Case Example

In pickup-and-delivery logistics, there are scenarios where some order types should never be together, even if all vehicles can perform all orders.

For example Imagine transporting chemicals / dangerous cargo:

• Every vehicle is compatible with all chemicals, so assignment isn’t about capacity or vehicle skills.
• Vehicles can combine multiple orders of the same chemical type and other chemicals which are deemed safe to be combined. (e.g. a vehicle combines 2 orders: pickup1 -> pickup2 -> dropoff2 -> dropoff1)
• However, chemical X cannot be transported in the same vehicle at the same time as chemical Y, for safety reasons.

So, if vehicle A is assigned to pick up and deliver chemical X at any point in its route, it cannot be assigned to transport chemical Y (at the same time or overlapping on the route), and vice versa.

Proposed Feature

• Enable users to specify mutually exclusive sets or types of orders in the pickup and delivery problem formulation.
• During route/assignment generation, ensure orders from incompatible sets are not assigned, even temporarily, to the same vehicle’s route.

Potential API/Config Example

"incompatible_order_types": [
  ["chemical_X", "chemical_Y"],
  ["biohazard_A", "food_B"]
]

In this example, chemical_X is incompatible with chemical_Y and biohazard_A is incompatible with food_B.
This type of configuration would require an additional field on tasks or pickup and delivery pairs that would indicate the type of order.
The strings are for the sake of example, a numeric type field could work similarly.

Benefits

• Handles safety, regulatory, or quality separation requirements
• Generalizes to food, pharmaceuticals, or any case with problematic order co-location

Would love to hear if this resonates with others, or if there’s a current cuOpt approach I’ve missed.
I'm not well-versed in the inner workings of cuOpt, but I'm happy to assist in any way that I'm able to!

Thanks!