Abstract
It is estimated that 90% of the world’s freight is moved as containerized cargo, with over 125 million TEUs (Twenty foot Equivalent Units) of container being shipped by 2010. To inspect this volume of cargo for explosives, drugs or other contraband is a daunting challenge. This paper presents an optimization technique for developing an inspection strategy that will provide a specified detection rate for containers containing contraband at a minimum cost. Nested genetic algorithms are employed to optimize the topology of an inspection strategy decision tree, the placement of sensors on the tree and the sensor thresholds which partition suspicious containers (containers believed to contain contraband) from innocuous containers (containers which are believed to be free of contraband). The results of this optimization technique are compared to previously published techniques.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anand, S., Madigan, D., Mammone, R., Pathak, S., & Roberts, F. S. (2006). Experimental analysis of sequential decision making algorithms for port of entry inspection procedures. In Lecture notes in computer science : Vol. 3975. Intelligence and security informatics, proceedings of ISI-2006 (pp. 319–330). New York: Springer.
Boros, E., Fedzhora, L., Kantor, P., Saeger, K., & Stroude, P. (2006). Large scale LP model for finding optimal container inspection strategies. Rutcor research report, No. RRR-26-2006.
Coley, D. (1999). An introduction to genetic algorithms for scientists and engineers. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. ISBN: 981-02-3602-6.
Container shipping information service, Facts and figures—trade (2008). http://www.shipsandboxes.com/factsandfigures/didyouknow/?ParentID=1686012568.
Eiben, A., & Smith, J. (1998). Introduction to evolutionary computing. Berlin: Springer. ISBN:3-540-40184-9.
Elsayed, A., Schroepfer, C., Xie, M., Zhang, H., & Zhu, Y. (2008). Point of entry inspection: sensor deployment policy optimization. Rutgers Working Paper.
Goldberg, N., Word, J., Boros, E., & Kantor, P. (2008). Optimal sequential inspection policies. DIMACS Technical Report 2008-07. ftp://dimacs.rutgers.edu/pub/dimacs/TechnicalReports/TechReports/2008/2008-07.pdf.
Gozani, T. (2004). The role of neutron based inspection techniques in the post 9/11/01 era. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 213, 460–463.
Hall, J. (2007). The nuclear car wash: neutron interrogation of cargo containers to detect hidden SNM. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, 261, 337–340.
Haupt, R., & Haupt, S. (2004). Practical genetic algorithms. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0471455652.
James, K., de Sulima-Przyborowski, J., & Haydn, N. (2002). Non invasive means of investigating container contents for customs agents at port. University Southern California.
Liner shipping in the U.S., World Shipping Council (2007). http://www.worldshipping.org/pdf/liner_shipping_in_the_us_2007_update.pdf.
Liu, Y., Sowerby, B., & Ticker, J. (2008). Comparison of neutron and high energy X-ray dual beam radiography for air cargo inspection. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 66, 463–473.
Madigan, D., Mittal, S., & Roberts, F. S. (2007). Sequential decision making of entry inspection: Overcoming computational challenges. In Proceedings of IEEE international conference on intelligence and security informatics (ISI-2007 (pp. 1–7). Piscataway: IEEE Press.
Manterea, T., & Alanderb, T. (2005). Evolutionary software engineering, a review, Applied. Soft Computing, 5, 315–331.
Martonosi, A., Willis, H., & Ortiz, D. (2005). Evaluating the viability of 100 per cent container inspection at America’s ports. In The economic impacts of terrorist attacks. Cheltenham Glos: Edward Elgar.
Nurthen, W. (2003). Urban infrastructure security. Technology in Society, 25, 543–547.
Olapiriyakul, S., & Das, S. (2007). Design and analysis of a two stage security screening and inspection system. Journal of Air Transport Management, 13, 67–74.
Orphan, V., Muenchau, E., Gromley, J., & Richardson, R. (2005). Advanced gamma ray technology for scanning cargo containers. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 63, 723–732.
Ramirez-Marquez, J. E. (2008). Port-of-entry safety via the reliability optimization of container inspection strategy through an evolutionary approach. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 93(11), 1698–1709.
Richardson, H., Gordon, P., & Moore, J. (Eds.) (2005). The economic impacts of terrorist attacks (pp. 218–241). Cheltenham Glos: Edward Elgar.
Singh, S., & Singh, M. (2003). Explosives detection systems (EDS) for aviation security. Signal Processing, 83, 31–55.
Stroud, P. D. (2003). Enumeration of increasing Boolean expressions and alternative digraph implementations for diagnostic applications. Los Alamos National Laboratory unrestricted report LAUR-03-3384 August 2, 2003.
Stroud, P. D., & Saeger, K. J. (2003). Enumeration of increasing Boolean expressions and alternative digraph applications. In H. Chu, J. Ferrer, T. Nguyen, & Y. Yu (Eds.), Proceedings of computer, communication and control technologies (Vol. IV, pp. 328–333).
Van Volsem, S., Dullaert, W., & Van Landeghem, H. (2007). An Evolutionary Algorithm and discrete event simulation for optimizing inspection strategies for multi-stage processes. European Journal of Operational Research, 179, 621–633.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Weele, S.F., Ramirez-Marquez, J.E. Optimization of container inspection strategy via a genetic algorithm. Ann Oper Res 187, 229–247 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-010-0701-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-010-0701-6