Judgments about forces in described interactions between objects.

In 4 experiments, participants made judgments about forces exerted and resistances put up by objects involved in described interactions. Two competing hypotheses were tested: (1) that judgments are derived from the same knowledge base that is thought to be the source of perceptual impressions of forces that occur with visual stimuli, and (2) that judgments are generated using simple models or heuristics for deriving force judgments from kinematic information. The results show some similarities with perceptual impression research, particularly that an active object is judged to exert more force on an inactive object than the latter exerts on the former. However, most of the available kinematic information had little or no effect on judgment, supporting the hypothesis that force judgments are generated according to simple rules. Presentation of information about damage to the objects resulted in use of all available kinds of information; this could reflect greater imageability of damage information than kinematic information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于改进蚁群算法的无人机2 维航路规划

针对传统蚁群算法在无人机3 维航路规划中存在搜索时间长、容易陷入局部最优解的问题,提出一种蚁 群算法的改进策略。将固定翼无人机的性能约束条件作为待扩展节点是否可行的判断条件,减小计算量和算法搜索 时间;对航路点的高度规划采用直接设定策略,将3 维航路规划问题简化为2 维航路规划问题,减小算法的复杂性; 改进全局信息素更新规则和安全启发因子,解决了局部最优解和威胁源规避问题。仿真结果表明：改进蚁群算法与 传统蚁群算法相比,能够有效规划出一条从起点到终点的飞行航路,具有更高的有效性和实用性。     

Sequencing algorithms for multiple arc-welding robots considering thermal distortion

This paper focuses on sequencing welding lines in multiple arc-welding robot systems, which is the problem of assigning individual welding operations to robots as well as determining their sequences with the objective of minimizing the maximum completion time. Each welding operation is denoted by a weld line with two end-points, each of which can be a possible starting point for the welding operation. Thermal distortion is explicitly considered by introducing a delay between welding operations associated with weld lines near each other. Due to the complexity of the problem, this paper suggests three types of search heuristics, genetic algorithms, simulated annealing and tabu search, each of which incorporates new methods to generate neighbourhood solutions. To show the performances of the heuristics, computational experiments are performed on a number of randomly generated test problems, and the results are reported. In particular, some of the search heuristics outperform the exiting method.     

Two-staged guillotine cut,two-dimensional bin packing optimisation with flexible bin size for steel mother plate design

This paper looks into the steel mother plate design problem. A slab, which is an intermediate work in process, is subsequently rolled into a mother plate with the specific dimensions of thickness, length, and width. The mother plate is then cut into customer order plates. As a slab is rolled into a mother plate through a series of horizontal and vertical rolling processes, different-sized mother plates can be generated from a single-slab type. This flexibility allows for the size of a mother plate to be determined according to the order plates assigned to it. Furthermore, when the order plates are cut from a mother plate, a guillotine cut is required to reduce the production cost. The steel mother plate design problem involves the placing of order plates on the mother plates in a guillotine cut pattern and determining the sizes of the mother plates with the objective of minimising the number of slabs; thus it may be considered as a two-staged guillotine cut, two-dimensional bin packing problem with flexible bin size. This paper introduces the problem, presents several mathematical models, and proposes an iterative two-phase heuristic method consisting of several algorithms to solve the problem. Computational results for the benchmark problems show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

GEOMETRIC PROGRAMMING. A NEW HYBRID ALGORITHM BASED ON LIAPUNOV CONCEPTS (MADLAP)

This article concerns the development of a simple yet very efficient heuristic procedure for optimizing the design or a reactor system employing continuous stirred tanks in series using Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The heuristic procedure employs a modified form or the well known Golden Search method to estimate the optimal number of reactors to be employed. The procedure was tested on an IBM personal computer under a wide range of values for three model parameters, namely the economy or scale factor, the scaled Michaelis-Menten constant and the desired degree of conversion to be attained. The results of this study indicated that the heuristic optimization procedure is capable of obtaining solutions that are either identical or very close to the actual optimal solutions in a very efficient manner.     

Planning and Sequencing Heuristics for Feature-Based Control of Holonic Machining Equipment

The intelligent manufacturing system program was proposed by Japan in 1989. Five participating regions—Australia, Canada, the European Community, Japan, and the United States—currently are involved in developing 21st century manufacturing technology through an investment of US $1.2 billion over 10 years. Korea joined the program and will start work on one of the six ongoing projects, holonic manufacturing systems (HMSs). The objective of the paper is to develop the control architecture of the holonic machining unit (HMU) for construction of the HMSs and to present some planning and sequencing heuristics for feature-based control of the HMU. Further, the paper provides the HMU's functionality using the IDEF0 function modeling method. The basic operation of the decision maker among the HMU's functions is to determine an efficient feature sequence in real time from the nonlinear feature graph used to represent a process plan. To this end, two methodologies are applied sequentially to managing a nonlinear process plan: removal of the OR nodes and then grouping and sequencing the features in the feature graph. Markov chain theory is used to compute the path preference indicator for removing the OR nodes, that is, for selecting the best path among those surrounded by OR nodes. The resulting graph is the AND graph, from which the feature type nodes are formed into sequenced groups. The CNC codes associated with the features in each group are combined and downloaded to the CNC machine. The development of the methodologies can help manufacturers efficiently cope with unexpected failures encountered during computer-automated machining.     

Action as a Fast and Frugal Heuristic

Decision making is usually viewed as involving a period of thought, while the decision maker assesses options, their likely consequences, and his or her preferences, and selects the preferred option. The process ends in a terminating action. In this view errors of thought will inevitably show up as errors of action; costs of thinking are to be balanced against costs of decision errors. Fast and frugal heuristics research has shown that, in some environments, modest thought can lead to excellent action. In this paper we extend this work to situations in which action is taken after little or no thought. We show that these `highly active' or `decision cycles' processes can lead to excellent results at the cost of almost no thought. The paper examines the settings in which this effectiveness is possible, and lists a number of environmental features that are required for decision cycles to work well. Several research directions for analytical, laboratory, and field-based research are identified.     

Evaluating multiepisode events: Boundary conditions for the peak-end rule.

This study advances our understanding of how people arrive at retrospective evaluations of multiepisode experiences. Large samples from the United States, France, and Denmark (810, 820, and 805 participants, respectively) reported their feelings during each episode of the previous day using the Day Reconstruction Method. The duration-weighted average of these feelings represented the normative approach to evaluation, and, contrary to the predictions of the peak-end rule, the average was the best predictor of retrospective evaluations of the day. To capture participants' heuristic evaluation, they also reported having a wonderful (peak) and/or awful (low) moment during the previous day. The results indicate that retrospective evaluations of multiepisode events rely on the averaged ratings of emotions, ignore ends, and also consider the presence of lows, and occasionally peaks, as subjectively defined by those experiencing them. Peaks and lows contribute more to comparative, rather than absolute evaluations. Future research should examine whether these findings extend to other multiepisode events that, unlike days, form cohesive units in terms of their content, goal, and emotionality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于相对效费比的网格工作流调度算法

为解决计算网格中有向无环图表示的截止期约束下的工作流时间费用优化问题,提出了一个新的启发式优化算法——相对效费比算法。该算法首先根据调度系数得到初步方案,再逐步调整,当方案完工时间小于截止期时,用时间换成本,选择成本消减最快的节点进行调整,中选服务有最大的正相对效费比值;当方案完工时间超过截止期时,用成本换时间,调整成本增加最慢服务的节点,中选服务有最大的负相对效费比值,该方法在保证截止期约束的同时能有效降低总成本。通过大量模拟实验和与最小关键路径、正向分层费用优化算法、逆向分层费用优化算法的比较,证明了相对效费比的有效性。     

置换流水车间调度问题的两阶段分布估计算法

针对置换流水车间调度问题,以最小化总流水时间为目标,提出了一种新颖的两阶段分布估计算法。第一阶段先利用NEH（Nawaz-Enscore-Ham,NEH）启发式构造一个较优的初始个体,然后随机生成初始种群,为保留种群的多样性,提出一种择优机制来选择个体并建立概率模型,同时在当代种群中利用精英机制保留当代种群中的最优解,最后利用概率模型采样并生成下一代种群。第二阶段采用插入、互换操作算子对第一阶段得到的最优解进行邻域搜索,来提高分布估计算法的全局搜索能力,阻止其陷入局部最优解。通过对算例进行实验、对比和分析,证明该算法的可行性和有效性。