🏋️♀️ Automated route generation begins with classifying constraints. This is the process of dictating how undesirable a constraint is to route through.
If you or your company have already carried out a project in Optioneer it is likely that this exercise has already been undertaken and the classifications have been standardised. However, it is still valuable to understand constraint classification so that you can:
🔂 iterate on the classifications to align with the project
🧐 inspect configurations
🧠 contribute your knowledge to the routing methodology
🏁 If you are carrying out constraint classification from scratch, it usually requires input from various team members with different areas of expertise. Please contact the Customer Success team if you need advice on undertaking this exercise.
📜 How does constraint classification differ from traditional routing methods?
In traditional, manual-style routing methods, constraints are typically handled qualitatively - i.e. - "Avoid that at all costs" or "if we can avoid going near there it would be better". However, Optioneer doesn't process abstract information and therefore requires quantitative classifications known as penalties. The penalty of a constraint may reflect any combination of the following - risk, impact, cost, or policies.
The table below demonstrates how we convert a more traditional qualitative-based routing approach to constraints to a quantitative-based penalty system. An exponential scale is utilised for penalties due to more efficient modelling of constraints.
🗣 But what about conflicting opinions?
Routing is a complex task, and constraint classification can be viewed as subjective. This can be handled in many ways in Optioneer:
👩🎨 Create many models. Rather than selecting a single constraint classification, create a few configurations with different classifications.
☁ Take the highest penalty to model the worst-case scenario.
⚽️ How do I apply penalties to constraints in Optioneer or check which penalties have been applied?
Penalties are applied to constraints in Optioneer in the Parameter Window.
This cannot be configured alone and must be carried out as part of the configuration of Optioneer, which will often have already been carried out. For full details on how to do this, contact the Customer Success team for training.
The instructions below show a subset of this specific to configuring constraint classification.
Create a config.
Go to the Parameters Page and create a configuration, or select one that already exists.
Select the configuration you wish to edit to see the list of design rules.
Activate the penalty design rule for the relevant asset.
Search for 'penalty' in the search bar.
Activate the design rule for the relevant asset.
Assign penalties to the constraints in one of three ways:
💁♂️ Manually - Click on the relevant row under 'Layer Value' and edit the value.
👨👩👧👦 Manually in bulk - Use the tick boxes to select layers that have the same penalty. Using the pen icon at the top, add a penalty in bulk.
🧍 Use the defaults provided by Continuum Industries - By clicking on FILL and searching for the attribute 'penalty_technical
