article_snippet: Michigan data scientist, Randy Olsen, has come up with route using an algorithm that calculates shortest distance, excluding any journeys over water.
article_snippet: Rather than looking at every possible solution, Mr Olsen used something known as a 'genetic algorithms' which starts with just a few random solutions.
article_snippet: It then manipulates just a few random solutions, while trying something slightly different each time, until It finds one that It can't improve on.
article_snippet: Olsen is the man behind the 'Where's Waldo' ('Where's Wally' in the UK) algorithm where Olsen looked at numerous pages of the famous children's illustrative challenges, and developed a mapping theory on how best to locate all the bespectacled characters.
highlights_snippet: Randy Olsen has come up with route using an algorithm that calculates shortest distance for a special road trip .
  
highlights_snippet: Scientist had earlier devised the ultimate U.S. road trip, and famous for the 'Where's Waldo' algorithm .