Determining Optimum Ship Routes

Abstract

A method is given for determining optimum ship routes on a digital computer. A ship is assumed to be in a fallout field whose intensity is a known function f ( x , y , t ) of position and time. A typical problem is that of choosing a route to a point where f ≦ f m , the maximum intensity that can be tolerated indefinitely. The route is to be such as to minimize the dose z = ∫ 0 T fdt , the termininal time and point are not specified. The problem of sending the ship to a given point with z minimized is also discussed. These are equivalent to corresponding problems of choosing a route to minimize the probability of detection while going through a region where the probability of detection is a known function of position and time.