The pure form of the Traveling Salesman Problem is based upon some pretty dramatic restrictions; such as the distance (or cost or whatever) from A to B is the same as from B to A and theres no reason not to prefer the trip A-B-C-A over A-C-B-A.
In some of the applications the Home page mentions these restrictions are reasonable. For example if an automated machine tool has to drill three holes (labeled A B C) in a sheet of metal then theres no reason to prefer A-B-C over A-C-B. (In this case there would be no need to return to A; theres already a hole there!) Or suppose a space telescope has a list of stars to observe. Theres no reason to prefer one sequence of observations over another other than wanting to conserve propellant; the stars arent moving and the observing conditions are the same when looking at each of them.
Heres the topic for this discussion:
General Note: To earn maximum credit you should post to the module discussion board in the first week of each module. Theres no reason not to because the discussions are non-technical. Each topic is intended to get us thinking about the type of management problem discussed in each module. The topics dont require any research or any prior knowledge of management; theyre based upon our own mundane experiences.