I'm trying to define what kind of problem I'm dealing with. I think it's a mixture of Online Bin packing and Knapsack. The premises are:
1) I have a fixed quantity of bins (let's say N).
2) I have to fill the bins with a fixed quantity of items (k), and try to minimize the deviation from a fixed volume set point (V).
3) The Items arrive in order (as in the online version of the problem), and have different volumes (vi). I can assume they're infinite, so that all N bins can be filled.
4) I can not partitionate the items (as in the knapsack problem). Either I put them in a bin, or I put them in another. I also can't discard them. (I assume this will eventually lead me to fill some of the bins in a non-optimal way)
Thanks a lot for any pointer, comment or clarification you could give me in how to start solving this. I think that defining what kind of problem it is, is the first step. Also, If anyone knows what can I read that ressembles this problem and could help me, I'd very much appreciate it. So far, I've looked everywhere but haven´t found anything ressembling it.
Regards!
Martin
