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Main Authors: Shen, Songhao, Zhou, Yufeng, Lei, Qin, Wu, Zhibin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16865
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author Shen, Songhao
Zhou, Yufeng
Lei, Qin
Wu, Zhibin
author_facet Shen, Songhao
Zhou, Yufeng
Lei, Qin
Wu, Zhibin
contents The orienteering problem (OP) is a combinatorial optimization problem that seeks a path visiting a subset of locations to maximize collected rewards under a limited resource budget. This article presents a systematic PRISMA-based review of OP research published between 2017 and 2025, with a focus on models and methods that have shaped subsequent developments in the field. We introduce a component-based taxonomy that decomposes OP variants into time-, path-, node-, structure-, and information-based extensions. This framework unifies classical and emerging variants -- including stochastic, time-dependent, Dubins, Set, and multi-period OPs -- within a single structural perspective. We further categorize solution approaches into exact algorithms, heuristics and metaheuristics, and learning-based methods, with particular emphasis on matheuristics and recent advances in artificial intelligence, especially reinforcement learning and neural networks, which enhance scalability in large-scale and information-rich settings. Building on this unified view, we discuss how different components affect computational complexity and polyhedral properties and identify open challenges related to robustness, sustainability, and AI integration. The survey thus provides both a consolidated reference for existing OP research and a structured agenda for future theoretical and applied work.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_16865
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publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A survey of the orienteering problem: model evolution, algorithmic advances, and future directions
Shen, Songhao
Zhou, Yufeng
Lei, Qin
Wu, Zhibin
Optimization and Control
The orienteering problem (OP) is a combinatorial optimization problem that seeks a path visiting a subset of locations to maximize collected rewards under a limited resource budget. This article presents a systematic PRISMA-based review of OP research published between 2017 and 2025, with a focus on models and methods that have shaped subsequent developments in the field. We introduce a component-based taxonomy that decomposes OP variants into time-, path-, node-, structure-, and information-based extensions. This framework unifies classical and emerging variants -- including stochastic, time-dependent, Dubins, Set, and multi-period OPs -- within a single structural perspective. We further categorize solution approaches into exact algorithms, heuristics and metaheuristics, and learning-based methods, with particular emphasis on matheuristics and recent advances in artificial intelligence, especially reinforcement learning and neural networks, which enhance scalability in large-scale and information-rich settings. Building on this unified view, we discuss how different components affect computational complexity and polyhedral properties and identify open challenges related to robustness, sustainability, and AI integration. The survey thus provides both a consolidated reference for existing OP research and a structured agenda for future theoretical and applied work.
title A survey of the orienteering problem: model evolution, algorithmic advances, and future directions
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16865