Yosemite National Park has six rangers they want to assign to six monthly security patrol duties. Whenever a ranger is assigned to serve on security duty, that means they have to sleep on-premises and will not be going home to their families. The administrator wants to assign the rangers in such a way as to minimize their time spent away from their families. The numbers of nights each ranger must be away from their families with each schedule are given below: Ranger Schedule
1 2 3 4 5 6
Alison 7 4 6 10 5 8
Brady 5 5 12 7 6 4
Cameron 9 9 11 7 10 00
Danny 11 6 8 5 9 10
Ethan 5 8 6 10 7 6
Fred 10 12 11 9 9 10
Answer the following questions:
1) Is this a maximization or minimization problem? Explain your answer.
2) Determine the optimal solution for this problem.
3) In your optimal solution, who will be spending the most nights away from their family?
4) In your optimal solution, who will be spending the least nights away from their family?
5) Comment on the optimal solution and recommend a strategy for Yosemite to make sure that security is maintained while keeping their rangers happy