A faster pruning optimization algorithm for task assignment

To our knowledge, the Hungary algorithm is not satisfactory for solving a large scale task assignment problem in the fields of operation research because it requires several changes in cost matrix and seeks, selects and deletes the labels of a zero element. Hence, we propose what we believe to be a faster pruning optimization algorithm to solve the problem. We reduce the task assignment scale by pruning the elements relative to the partial optimal resolution in each operation; the pruning optimization algorithm can thus obtain the optimal solution with only (n-1) times of operation for a n to n task assignment. We simulate the pruning optimization algorithm and compare it with the Hungary algorithm. The simulation results and their comparison given in Table 1 and Fig. 1 show preliminarily that our pruning optimization algorithm obtains the same calculation results as the Hungary algorithm, it takes far less calculation time than the Hungary algorithm, thus quickening the speed for solving a task assignment problem.