Fictitious play based assembly sequence optimization considering process constraints

A method for optimizing a sequence of things that employs a fictitious play algorithm. The method includes assigning an agent to each thing in the sequence, and defining an objective function that is a function of certain performance indices of the things. The method also includes determining an initial sequence of the things, and defining a random sample of a plurality of past sequence of the things. The method then sequentially and independently selects an optimal position for each thing in the sequence that minimizes the objective function relative to the sampled sequences. The method then determines a new sequence of the things based on the selected positions of the things in the sequence, and then determines whether the new sequence is closer to optimal than the previous sequences of the things.