Re: Optimizing cutting paths, was Traveling Salesman Joke

So Dave,

How about getting your brother to share a little of that knowledge with
us? Or you could give us a rundown! There seems to be considerable
interest in this subject!

Alan KM6VV


dkowalcz@... wrote:

>
> To list,
>
> One "Travelling Salesman Corollary" is that the ideal path will
> have no diagonal crossovers.
>
> Imagine drilling four holes in the shape of a square. One possible
> path is a rectangular O shape, another is an X. The O is always
> fastest, and this can be generalized formally into a "no crossover"
> theorem for the problem, no matter how complex the pattern.
>
> So, if you've got lots of holes to drill, say in a grid pattern
> with some members missing (as in PC drilling), a good 80/20 strategy
> is to scan the rows left to right while indexing and drill.
>
> I only know this because my brother worked quite hard on the TS
> problem for his math degree, and shared some of his findings. Good
> luck with your projects!
>
> Dave Kowalczyk
> Seattle WA
> shameless web plug --> http://www.dakeng.com
>