  This article presents a generic method to solve 2D multi-objective placement
problem for free-form components. The proposed method is a relaxed placement
technique combined with an hybrid algorithm based on a genetic algorithm and a
separation algorithm. The genetic algorithm is used as a global optimizer and
is in charge of efficiently exploring the search space. The separation
algorithm is used to legalize solutions proposed by the global optimizer, so
that placement constraints are satisfied. A test case illustrates the
application of the proposed method. Extensions for solving the 3D problem are
given at the end of the article.
