# How to use MOPSO to align characters vertically?

I need to efficiently align characters vertically using Multi Objective PSO. Alignment is achieved by adding spaces in between a given set of characters.

a b c d e f
b b d h g
c a b f


Might be

- a b - c d e f - -
- - b b - d - - h g
c a b - - - - f - -


Now this is a multi objective solution. I need to maximize the characters that get aligned vertically and minimize the amount of spaces in between the characters.

I wanted to focus firstly on how to get a set of characters to represent a position of a particle. This would mean that I need to somehow transform a possible set of characters into a position of a particle. If I can somehow achieve this then the rest should fall into place.

• How do I transform these set of characters into a position of a particle?
• Also is this the best approach or are there better ways to approach this problem?
• Welcome to AI! I did a slight edit to highlight the questions, and added the "combinatorics" tag, which seemed appropriate for this problem. Feel free to re-edit or update as you see fit.
– DukeZhou
Mar 28, 2018 at 21:16