ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Bin covering problem

Have you ever had a bunch of toys, but you didn't have a big enough box to put them all in? The bin covering problem is kind of like that, but instead of toys, we're talking about numbers.

Imagine you have a bunch of numbers, and you want to group them into bins. But just like with your toys, you only have a limited number of bins. What do you do?

One way to solve this problem is to use something called a "cover." A cover is basically a way to group some of the numbers together so that they fit into a single bin. For example, if you have the numbers 1, 2, and 3, you could group them together and put them in one bin.

But here's the tricky part: you don't want to just randomly group the numbers together. You want to find the best way to group them so that you use as few bins as possible.

Think of it like a puzzle. You have to find the right combination of covers to fit all the numbers into as few bins as possible.

There are lots of different strategies you can use to solve this problem. Some involve sorting the numbers in different ways, while others involve trying different covers until you find the best one.

Overall, the bin covering problem is all about finding the smartest way to group numbers together so that you can fit them all into a limited number of bins. It may sound tricky, but with a little practice, anyone can become a bin covering pro!