Bee colony optimization for the p-center problem

Bee colony optimization (BCO) is a relatively new meta-heuristic designed to deal with hard combinatorial optimization problems. It is biologically inspired method that explores collective intelligence applied by the honey bees during nectar collecting process. In this paper we apply BCO to the p-center problem in the case of symmetric distance matrix. On the contrary to the constructive variant of the BCO algorithm used in recent literature, we propose variant of BCO based on the improvement concept (BCOi). The BCOi has not been significantly used in the relevant BCO literature so far. In this paper it is proved that BCOi can be a very useful concept for solving difficult combinatorial problems. The numerical experiments performed on well-known benchmark problems show that the BCOi is competitive with other methods and it can generate high-quality solutions within negligible CPU times.     

Data mining methods for knowledge discovery in multi-objective optimization: Part A - Survey

Real-world optimization problems typically involve multiple objectives to be optimized simultaneously under multiple constraints and with respect to several variables. While multi-objective optimization itself can be a challenging task, equally difficult is the ability to make sense of the obtained solutions. In this two-part paper, we deal with data mining methods that can be applied to extract knowledge about multi-objective optimization problems from the solutions generated during optimization. This knowledge is expected to provide deeper insights about the problem to the decision maker, in addition to assisting the optimization process in future design iterations through an expert system. The current paper surveys several existing data mining methods and classifies them by methodology and type of knowledge discovered. Most of these methods come from the domain of exploratory data analysis and can be applied to any multivariate data. We specifically look at methods that can generate explicit knowledge in a machine-usable form. A framework for knowledge-driven optimization is proposed, which involves both online and offline elements of knowledge discovery. One of the conclusions of this survey is that while there are a number of data mining methods that can deal with data involving continuous variables, only a few ad hoc methods exist that can provide explicit knowledge when the variables involved are of a discrete nature. Part B of this paper proposes new techniques that can be used with such datasets and applies them to discrete variable multi-objective problems related to production systems.     

A preference ordered classification for a multi-objective max–min redundancy allocation problem

In this study, we consider a bi-objective redundancy allocation problem on a series–parallel system with component level redundancy strategy. Our aim is to maximize the minimum subsystem reliability, while minimizing the overall system cost. The Pareto solutions of this problem are found by the augmented ε-constraint approach for small and moderate sized instances. After finding the Pareto solutions, we apply a well known sorting procedure, UTADIS, to categorize the solutions into preference ordered classes, such as A, B, and C. In this procedure, consecutive classes are separated by thresholds determined according to the utility function constructed from reference sets of classes. In redundancy allocation problems, reference sets may contain a small number of solutions (even a single solution). We propose the τ-neighborhood approach to increase the number of references. We perform experiments on some reliability optimization test problems and general test problems.     

Computational Ability of Cells based on Cell Dynamics and Adaptability

Learning how biological systems solve problems could help to design new methods of computation. Information processing in simple cellular organisms is interesting, as they have survived for almost 1 billion years using a simple system of information processing. Here we discuss a well-studied model system: the large amoeboid Physarum plasmodium. This amoeba can find approximate solutions for combinatorial optimization problems, such as solving a maze or a shortest network problem. In this report, we describe problem solving by the amoeba, and the computational methods that can be extracted from biological behaviors. The algorithm designed based on Physarum is both simple and useful. Tutorial series of three invited papers

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Multi-population differential evolution with balanced ensemble of mutation strategies for large-scale global optimization

Differential evolution (DE) is a simple, yet very effective, population-based search technique. However, it is challenging to maintain a balance between exploration and exploitation behaviors of the DE algorithm. In this paper, we boost the population diversity while preserving simplicity by introducing a multi-population DE to solve large-scale global optimization problems. In the proposed algorithm, called mDE-bES, the population is divided into independent subgroups, each with different mutation and update strategies. A novel mutation strategy that uses information from either the best individual or a randomly selected one is used to produce quality solutions to balance exploration and exploitation. Selection of individuals for some of the tested mutation strategies utilizes fitness-based ranks of these individuals. Function evaluations are divided into epochs. At the end of each epoch, individuals between the subgroups are exchanged to facilitate information exchange at a slow pace. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated on a set of 19 large-scale continuous optimization problems. A comparative study is carried out with other state-of-the-art optimization techniques. The results show that mDE-bES has a competitive performance and scalability behavior compared to the contestant algorithms.     

Solving nonlinear systems of functional equations with fuzzy adaptive simulated annealing

This paper proposes a method for finding solutions of arbitrarily nonlinear systems of functional equations through stochastic global optimization. The original problem (equation solving) is transformed into a global optimization one by synthesizing objective functions whose global minima, if they exist, are also solutions to the original system. The global minimization task is carried out by the stochastic method known as fuzzy adaptive simulated annealing, triggered from different starting points, aiming at finding as many solutions as possible. To demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method, solutions for several examples of nonlinear systems are presented and compared with results obtained by other approaches. We consider systems composed of n   equations on Euclidean spaces ?n${?}^n$ (n variables: x₁, x₂, x₃, ? , x_n).     

Calibrating artificial neural networks by global optimization

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are used extensively to model unknown or unspecified functional relationships between the input and output of a “black box” system. In order to apply the generic ANN concept to actual system model fitting problems, a key requirement is the training of the chosen (postulated) ANN structure. Such training serves to select the ANN parameters in order to minimize the discrepancy between modeled system output and the training set of observations. We consider the parameterization of ANNs as a potentially multi-modal optimization problem, and then introduce a corresponding global optimization (GO) framework. The practical viability of the GO based ANN training approach is illustrated by finding close numerical approximations of one-dimensional, yet visibly challenging functions. For this purpose, we have implemented a flexible ANN framework and an easily expandable set of test functions in the technical computing system Mathematica. The MathOptimizer Professional global-local optimization software has been used to solve the induced (multi-dimensional) ANN calibration problems.     

离散事件动态系统中的控制综合问题

本文将离散事件动态系统（ＤＥＤＳ）监控方法中的控制综合问题作了系统的分类，得到了六种控制综合问题，并将它们表示成泛函极值问题，讨论了它们的可行解，最优解的存在性，可生解集的结构以及相互之间的关系。     

A <Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis>-learning-based swarm optimization algorithm for economic dispatch problem

In this paper, we treat optimization problems as a kind of reinforcement learning problems regarding an optimization procedure for searching an optimal solution as a reinforcement learning procedure for finding the best policy to maximize the expected rewards. This viewpoint motivated us to propose a Q-learning-based swarm optimization (QSO) algorithm. The proposed QSO algorithm is a population-based optimization algorithm which integrates the essential properties of Q-learning and particle swarm optimization. The optimization procedure of the QSO algorithm proceeds as each individual imitates the behavior of the global best one in the swarm. The best individual is chosen based on its accumulated performance instead of its momentary performance at each evaluation. Two data sets including a set of benchmark functions and a real-world problem—the economic dispatch (ED) problem for power systems—were used to test the performance of the proposed QSO algorithm. The simulation results on the benchmark functions show that the proposed QSO algorithm is comparable to or even outperforms several existing optimization algorithms. As for the ED problem, the proposed QSO algorithm has found solutions better than all previously found solutions.     

Jackson-type inequalities for h-p clouds and error estimates

The interest in meshfree methods for solving boundary-value problems has grown rapidly in recent years. A meshless method that has attracted much interest in the community of computational mechanics is the h-p clouds method. For this kind of applications it is fundamental to analyze the orders of approximation. In this paper we prove Jackson-type inequalities for h-p cloud functions. These inequalities set up a general framework for the theoretical analysis of high order error estimates of the h-p clouds method, with the same remarkable features of finite element theory.