Hybrid evolutionary optimization for nutraceutical manufacturing processes

In this paper, an intelligent approach, called HERON (hybrid evolutionary optimization for nutraceutical manufacturing), is proposed to optimize a variety of manufacturing processes in the nutraceutical field. The approach integrates the Taguchi method, an artificial neural network (ANN), and a genetic algorithm (GA). The Taguchi method is used to cost-effectively gather the data on the process parameters. Data obtained by the Taguchi method are divided into input and output data for an ANN’s input and output parameters, respectively. The ANN trains itself to develop the relationship between its input and output parameters. The trained ANN is then integrated into a GA as the fitness function, such that the GA can evolutionarily obtain the optimal process parameters. The HERON is validated through a manufacturing process on soft-shell turtle soft-capsules. The objective is to minimize the soft-capsule defect rate. Compared to the defect rates obtained by the empirical and Taguchi methods, the HERON reduces the defect rate by 43.75 and 32.5 %, respectively. In addition, compared to the manufacturing costs obtained by the empirical and Taguchi methods, the HERON reduces the manufacturing cost by 11.81 and 25.29 %, respectively.     

An evolutionary simulation-based optimization approach for dispatching scheduling

An effective scheduling decision is one of the key factors towards improving the efficiency of a system’s performance, particularly in the instance of multiple products thus dispatching rules have been widely used for real-time scheduling because they can provide a very quick and pretty good solution. However, deciding how to select appropriate rules is very difficult. In this paper, we develop evolutionary simulation-based heuristics to construct near-optimal solutions for dispatching rule allocation. Our heuristic is easy to use and gives a manager a useful tool for testing a configuration that can minimize certain performance measures. The optimization heuristics are used to determine priority strategies to maximize the performance of a complex manufacturing system with a large number of different products, along with an overtime that changes with a mix of different process types, including assembly and disassembly operations and with different types of internal and external disturbances. Modeling is carried out using discrete-event simulation. Case study analysis is of a commercial offset printing production system.     

Multiobjective evolutionary algorithm for manufacturing scheduling problems: state-of-the-art survey

Scheduling is an important tool for a manufacturing system, where it can have a major impact on the productivity of a production process. In order to find an optimal solution to scheduling problems it gives rise to complex combinatorial optimization problems. Unfortunately, most of them fall into the class of NP-hard combinatorial problems. In this paper, we focus on the design of multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) to solve a variety of scheduling problems. Firstly, we introduce fitness assignment mechanism and performance measures for solving multiple objective optimization problems, and introduce evolutionary representations and hybrid evolutionary operations especially for the scheduling problems. Then we apply these EAs to the different types of scheduling problems, included job shop scheduling problem (JSP), flexible JSP, Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) dispatching in flexible manufacturing system (FMS), and integrated process planning and scheduling (IPPS). Through a variety of numerical experiments, we demonstrate the effectiveness of these Hybrid EAs (HEAs) in the widely applications of manufacturing scheduling problems. This paper also summarizes a classification of scheduling problems, and illustrates the design way of EAs for the different types of scheduling problems. It is useful to guide how to design an effective EA for the practical manufacturing scheduling problems. As known, these practical scheduling problems are very complex, and almost is a combination of different typical scheduling problems.     

卷烟生产计划排产模型建立与优化

为了对卷烟生产进行自动优化排产,构建出卷烟排产分层递阶优化流程,对流程的关键环节设计了自动优化模型;分别建立了带约束限制的卷烟多点生产任务分配和生产点详细排产数学模型。对两个模型分别设计了改进的遗传优化算法。对多点生产模型,提出了一种基于遗传算法-模式搜索法的任务分配优化算法,改善了单独使用遗传算法局部搜索能力差的缺陷;对详细排产最大完工时间数学模型,设计了相应的算法操作策略,将牌号优先规则、生产约束嵌入到遗传算法中,满足了实际生产限制。通过卷烟生产排产实例,验证了算法的有效性,给出了优化的卷烟精确排产计划,降低了卷烟生产总成本和库存,缩短了总生产流程时间,提高了设备效率。     

A bi-level evolutionary optimization approach for integrated production and transportation scheduling

This paper investigates an integrated production and transportation scheduling (IPTS) problem which is formulated as a bi-level mixed integer nonlinear program. This problem considers distinct realistic features widely existing in make-to-order supply chains, namely unrelated parallel-machine production environment and product batch-based delivery. An evolution-strategy-based bi-level evolutionary optimization approach is developed to handle the IPTS problem by integrating a memetic algorithm and heuristic rules. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated by numerical experiments based on industrial data and industrial-size problems. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can effectively solve the problem investigated.     

Mathematical modeling and evolutionary algorithm-based approach for integrated process planning and scheduling

Traditionally, process planning and scheduling were performed sequentially, where scheduling was implemented after process plans had been generated. Considering their complementarity, it is necessary to integrate these two functions more tightly to improve the performance of a manufacturing system greatly. In this paper, a mathematical model of integrated process planning and scheduling has been formulated. And, an evolutionary algorithm-based approach has been developed to facilitate the integration and optimization of these two functions. To improve the optimized performance of the approach, efficient genetic representation and operator schemes have been developed. To verify the feasibility and performance of the proposed approach, experimental studies have been conducted and comparisons have been made between this approach and some previous works. The experimental results show that the integrated process planning and scheduling is necessary and the proposed approach has achieved significant improvement.     

卫星任务调度统一化建模与多策略协同求解方法

针对卫星任务调度“一星一系统”、测运控分离的现状,以卫星执行任务产生的星上独立事件和星地协同事件作为调度对象,以事件可执行时机作为调度资源,建立卫星任务调度统一化约束满足模型,将传统运控任务调度与测控任务调度纳入统一的建模方法.为保障模型的通用性和适应性,设计包含构造启发式、智能优化和针对性算法改进的多策略协同求解方法,搭建卫星任务调度算法与调度模型松耦合、模块化的系统架构.实验测试表明,所提出方法能够弥补传统模型在敏捷遥感卫星任务调度和高轨卫星测控调度场景下的局限性,在Benchmark问题和实际应用场景中均表现出良好的适用性和优化效果.     

Network model and effective evolutionary approach for AGV dispatching in manufacturing system

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs), are the state-of-the-art, and are often used to facilitate automatic storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS). In this paper, we focus on the dispatching of AGVs in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). A FMS environment requires a flexible and adaptable material handling system. We model an AGV system by using network structure. This network model of an AGV dispatching has simplexes decision variables with considering most AGV problem’s constraints, for example capacity of AGVs, precedence constraints among the processes, deadlock control. Furthermore, these problems can be solved by using a lot of heuristic algorithms as network optimization problems. We are also proposed an effective evolutionary approach for solving a kind of AGV’s problems in which minimizing time required to complete all jobs (i.e. makespan) and minimizing the number of AGVs, simultaneously. For applying an evolutionary approach for this multicriteria case of AGV problem, priority-based encoding method and Interactive Adaptive-weight GA (i-awGA) were proposed. Numerical analyses for case study show the effectiveness of proposed approach. Received: June 2005 / Accepted: December 2005     

Quantum seeded evolutionary computational technique for constrained optimization in engineering design and manufacturing

In this paper an attempt is made to develop a new Quantum Seeded Hybrid Evolutionary Computational Technique (QSHECT) that is general, flexible and efficient in solving single objective constrained optimization problems. It generates initial parents using quantum seeds. It is here that QSHECT incorporates ideas from the principles of quantum computation and integrates them in the current framework of Real Coded Evolutionary Algorithm (RCEA). It also incorporates Simulated Annealing (SA) in the selection process of Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) for child generation. The proposed algorithm has been tested on standard test problems and engineering design problems taken from the literature. In order to test this algorithm on domain-specific manufacturing problems, Neuro-Fuzzy (NF) modeling of hot extrusion is attempted and the NF model is incorporated as a fitness evaluator inside the QSHECT to form a new variant of this technique, i.e. Quantum Seeded Neuro Fuzzy Hybrid Evolutionary Computational Technique (QSNFHECT) and is effectively applied for process optimization of hot extrusion process. The neuro-fuzzy model (NF) is also compared with statistical regression analysis (RA) model for evaluating the extrusion load. The NF model was found to be much superior. The optimal process parameters obtained by Quantum Seeded Neuro Fuzzy Hybrid Evolutionary Technique (QSNFHECT) are validated by the finite element model. The proposed methodology using QSNFHECT is a step towards meeting the challenges posed in intelligent manufacturing systems and opens new avenues for parameter estimation and optimization and can be easily incorporated in existing manufacturing setup.     

云制造环境下面向多目标优化的虚拟资源调度研究

为解决云制造环境下虚拟资源调度存在的算法求解效率不高、模型建立缺乏考虑任务间关系约束和任务间及子任务间的物流时间及成本因素等不足,构建了兼顾交货期时间最小化、服务成本最低化、服务质量最优化为目标的多目标虚拟资源调度模型;采用一种基于项目阶段的双链编码方式进行编码,并提出自适应交叉与变异概率公式,以避免交叉、变异概率始终不变导致算法效率下降与过早收敛的问题;在此基础上利用基于项目阶段的多种交叉变异策略相结合的改进遗传算法进行求解,保证了算法的全局与局部搜索性能。实例结果表明,相比于传统的模型与算法,该模型适用性更强,改进的遗传算法在求解效率、准确度与稳定性方面均有较大提高。     

Non-dominated sorting biogeography-based optimization for bi-objective reentrant flexible manufacturing system scheduling

Scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) is described as an NP-Hard problem. Its complexity has increased significantly in line with the development of FMS over the past years. This paper presents a non-dominated sorting biogeography-based optimization (NSBBO) for scheduling problem of FMS having multi loading-unloading and shortcuts infused in the reentrant characteristics. This model is formulated to identify the near optimal trade-off solutions capable of addressing the bi-objectives of minimization of makespan and total earliness. The goal is to simultaneously determine the best machine assignment and job sequencing to satisfy both objectives. We propose the development of NSBBO by substituting the standard linear function of emigration-immigration rate with three approaches based on sinusoidal, quadratic and trapezoidal models. A selection of test problems was examined to analyze the effectiveness, efficiency and diversity levels of the proposed approaches as compared to standard NSBBO and NSGA-II. The results have shown that the NSBBO-trapezoidal model performed favorably and is comparable to current existing models. We conclude that the developed NSBBO and its variants are suitable alternative methods to achieve the bi-objective satisfaction of reentrant FMS scheduling problem.     

Enhanced evolutionary algorithms for single and multiobjective optimization in the job shop scheduling problem

Over the past few years, a continually increasing number of research efforts have investigated the application of evolutionary computation techniques for the solution of scheduling problems. Scheduling can pose extremely complex combinatorial optimization problems, which belong to the NP-hard family. Last enhancements on evolutionary algorithms include new multirecombinative approaches. Multiple Crossovers Per Couple (MCPC) allows multiple crossovers on the couple selected for mating and Multiple Crossovers on Multiple Parents (MCMP) do this but on a set of more than two parents. Techniques for preventing incest also help to avoid premature convergence. Issues on representation and operators influence efficiency and efficacy of the algorithm. The present paper shows how enhanced evolutionary approaches, can solve the Job Shop Scheduling Problem (JSSP) in single and multiobjective optimization.     

求解柔性机器人车间调度问题的混合蚁群算法

在柔性作业车间调度问题的基础上,考虑多台搬运机器人执行不同工序在不同机床之间的搬运,形成柔性机器人作业车间调度问题,提出混合蚁群算法。用改进析取图对问题进行描述,使用混合选择策略、自适应伪随机比例规则和改进信息素更新规则优化蚁群算法,结合遗传算子完成机床选择和工序排序。使用一种多机器人排序算法完成搬运机器人分配和搬运工序排序。通过多组算例仿真测试并与其他算法进行比较,验证了算法的有效性和可靠性。     

柔性制造系统的改进粒子群无死锁调度算法

基于柔性制造系统的Petri网模型,以制造期最小为优化目标,将死锁避免策略嵌入粒子群算法中,提出一种无死锁改进粒子群调度算法.该算法将粒子与工件的工序序列相对应,以位置数值的大小表示对应工件工序在执行顺序中的优先级.采用一步向前看的死锁避免策略方法对序列的可行性进行验证,提出一种跳出局部极值的策略.实例仿真结果表明了粒子群调度算法的可行性和有效性,以及改进粒子群调度算法的优越性.     

An agent-oriented approach to resolve scheduling optimization in intelligent manufacturing

Agent technology is considered as a promising approach for developing optimizing process plans in intelligent manufacturing. As a bridge between computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM), the computer aided scheduling optimization (CASO) plays an important role in the computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) environment. In order to develop a multi-agent-based scheduling system for intelligent manufacturing, it is necessary to build various functional agents for all the resources and an agent manager to improve the scheduling agility. Identifying the shortcomings of traditional scheduling algorithm in intelligent manufacturing, the architecture of intelligent manufacturing system based on multi-agent is put forward, among which agent represents the basic processing entity. Multi-agent-based scheduling is a new intelligent scheduling method based on the theories of multi-agent system (MAS) and distributed artificial intelligence (DAI). It views intelligent manufacturing as composed of a set of intelligent agents, who are responsible for one or more activities and interacting with other related agents in planning and executing their responsibilities. In this paper, the proposed architecture consists of various autonomous agents that are capable of communicating with each other and making decisions based on their knowledge. The architecture of intelligent manufacturing, the scheduling optimization algorithm, the negotiation processes and protocols among the agents are described in detail. A prototype system is built and validated in an illustrative example, which demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approach. The experiments prove that the implementation of multi-agent technology in intelligent manufacturing system makes the operations much more flexible, economical and energy efficient.     

A novel knowledge-guided evolutionary scheduling strategy for energy-efficient connected coverage optimization in WSNs

One of the most important challenges in designing wireless sensor network is how to construct full-connected network containing least active sensor nodes with satisfied quality of services, such as the coverage rate and energy consumption. This energy-efficiency full-connected coverage optimization problem is modeled as a single-objective optimization problem with constraint. To solve this problem, a knowledge-guided evolutionary scheduling strategy is proposed. Three highlights of this strategy are: (1) Knowledge is defined as the importance of sensor node, which depends on the distance between sensor node and sink node. (2) The genes of an individual correspond to senor nodes in descending order of their importance. (3) Considering sensor nodes’ importance and redundancy rate, knowledge-guided mutation operator and repair strategy are present. Simulation results show that the proposed method can find the optimal full-connected wireless sensor network containing least sensor nodes and consuming less energy for communication by less computation time. Though the coverage rate of the optimum is larger, it still satisfies the coverage constraint. Moreover, this strategy fits for the problems that the communication radius of sensor node is less than two times of its sensing radius.     

Simulation optimization approach for hybrid flow shop scheduling problem in semiconductor back-end manufacturing

This study presents a simulation optimization approach for a hybrid flow shop scheduling problem in a real-world semiconductor back-end assembly facility. The complexity of the problem is determined based on demand and supply characteristics. Demand varies with orders characterized by different quantities, product types, and release times. Supply varies with the number of flexible manufacturing routes but is constrained in a multi-line/multi-stage production system that contains certain types and numbers of identical and unrelated parallel machines. An order is typically split into separate jobs for parallel processing and subsequently merged for completion to reduce flow time. Split jobs that apply the same qualified machine type per order are compiled for quality and traceability. The objective is to achieve the feasible minimal flow time by determining the optimal assignment of the production line and machine type at each stage for each order. A simulation optimization approach is adopted due to the complex and stochastic nature of the problem. The approach includes a simulation model for performance evaluation, an optimization strategy with application of a genetic algorithm, and an acceleration technique via an optimal computing budget allocation. Furthermore, scenario analyses of the different levels of demand, product mix, and lot sizing are performed to reveal the advantage of simulation. This study demonstrates the value of the simulation optimization approach for practical applications and provides directions for future research on the stochastic hybrid flow shop scheduling problem.     

基于浮点型编码策略的差分多目标柔性车间调度优化

运用进化算法求解柔性车间调度问题时,编码的特殊性对进化策略造成的局限制约了算法的搜索能力。为此,提出一种基于浮点型编码策略的差分多目标优化算法。该算法采用基于工序权重的浮点数编码—解码机制,消除了排列组合型编码方式对进化操作带来的约束,运用差分进化策略生成新个体,以提高优秀个体产生的几率,进而保证算法有更好的收敛性。将算法与传统算法及其改进形式在相同测试用例上进行对比,结果表明,本算法在保证收敛性的同时,搜索到更多的非支配个体,体现出更好的分布性。此外,提出了平行决策和等价平行决策的定义,将柔性车间调度模型的研究拓展至决策空间。     

Network measurement based modeling and optimization for IP geolocation

IP geolocation plays a critical role in location-aware network services and network security applications. Commercially deployed IP geolocation databases may provide outdated or incorrect location of Internet hosts due to slow record updates and dynamic IP address assignment by the ISPs. Measurement-based IP geolocation is used to provide real time location estimation of Internet hosts based on network delays. This paper proposes a measurement-based IP geolocation framework that provides location estimation of an Internet host in real time. The proposed frame work models the relationship between measured network delays and geographic distances using segmented polynomial regression model and semidefinite programming for optimization. Weighted and non-weighted schemes are evaluated for location estimation. The proposed framework shows close to 17 and 26 miles median estimation error for nodes in North America and Europe, respectively. The proposed schemes achieve 70-80% improvement in median estimation error comparing to the first order regression approach for experimental data collected from Planet-Lab.     

Coordinated scheduling of production and logistics for large-scale closed-loop manufacturing using Benders decomposition optimization

This paper studies coordinated scheduling of production and logistics for a large-scale closed-loop manufacturing system by integrating its manufacturing and recycling process. In addition to the forward manufacturing process, different recycling units in reverse recycling process are also studied. A decentralized network is designed to formulate the coordinated scheduling problem as a mixed integer programming model with both binary and integer variables. As the problem for closed-loop manufacturing is large-scale and computational-consuming in nature, the model is divided into integer variable sub-models and complex binary variable sub-models for preprocessing and reprocessing respectively. An iterative solution approach by Benders decomposition is developed to accelerate the solving efficiency in large-scale case by updating custom constraints. A case study is conducted to investigate the managerial implications of the decentralized network for the closed-loop manufacturing system. Computational experiments demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the proposed iterative solution approach for the large-scale scenarios.