The Traveling Salesman Problem

"Given a set of points, and the distances between the points, the
traveling salesman problem is to find the shortest path visiting all of
the points, starting and ending in the same point."

The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) seems simple. However, finding the solution can be difficult, even for a small number of points. Highly specialized software, based on mathematical and scientific principles, is required.

The TSP has many applications, for example, in transportation and logistics. On this website you will find examples of the TSP done on a small scale around Iowa City. Data was collected by foot and then entered into a publically available solver.

This website has been designed to illustrate the Traveling Salesman Problem in some everyday, fun situations. It is the hope of the authors that this website will also serve to demonstrate the power of mathematics, science, and technology in the increasingly complex modern world.

This project and website have been support by the National Science Foundation under grant CCF 0545514.