A Competitive-Cooperative Coevolutionary Paradigm for Dynamic Multiobjective Optimization

In addition to the need for satisfying several competing objectives, many real-world applications are also dynamic and require the optimization algorithm to track the changing optimum over time. This paper proposes a new coevolutionary paradigm that hybridizes competitive and cooperative mechanisms observed in nature to solve multiobjective optimization problems and to track the Pareto front in a dynamic environment. The main idea of competitive-cooperative coevolution is to allow the decomposition process of the optimization problem to adapt and emerge rather than being hand designed and fixed at the start of the evolutionary optimization process. In particular, each species subpopulation will compete to represent a particular subcomponent of the multiobjective problem, while the eventual winners will cooperate to evolve for better solutions. Through such an iterative process of competition and cooperation, the various subcomponents are optimized by different species subpopulations based on the optimization requirements of that particular time instant, enabling the coevolutionary algorithm to handle both the static and dynamic multiobjective problems. The effectiveness of the competitive-cooperation coevolutionary algorithm (COEA) in static environments is validated against various multiobjective evolutionary algorithms upon different benchmark problems characterized by various difficulties in local optimality, discontinuity, nonconvexity, and high-dimensionality. In addition, extensive studies are also conducted to examine the capability of dynamic COEA (dCOEA) in tracking the Pareto front as it changes with time in dynamic environments.      

A Tabu-Based Exploratory Evolutionary Algorithm for Multiobjective Optimization

This paper presents an exploratorymultiobjective evolutionary algorithm (EMOEA)that integrates the features of tabu search andevolutionary algorithm for multiobjective (MO)optimization. The method incorporates the taburestriction in individual examination andpreservation in order to maintain the searchdiversity in evolutionary MO optimization,which subsequently helps to prevent the searchfrom trapping in local optima as well as topromote the evolution towards the globaltrade-offs concurrently. In addition, a newlateral interference is presented in the paperto distribute nondominated individuals alongthe discovered Pareto-front uniformly. Unlikemany niching or sharing methods, the lateralinterference can be performed without the needof parameter settings and can be flexiblyapplied in either the parameter or objectivedomain. The features of the proposed algorithmare examined based upon three benchmarkproblems. Experimental results show that EMOEAperforms well in searching and distributingnondominated solutions along the trade-offsuniformly, and offers a competitive behavior toescape from local optima in a noisyenvironment.     

Evolutionary algorithms with dynamic population size and localexploration for multiobjective optimization

Evolutionary algorithms have been recognized to be well suited for multiobjective optimization. These methods, however, need to "guess" for an optimal constant population size in order to discover the usually sophisticated tradeoff surface. This paper addresses the issue by presenting a novel incrementing multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (IMOEA) with dynamic population size that is computed adaptively according to the online discovered tradeoff surface and its desired population distribution density. It incorporates the method of fuzzy boundary local perturbation with interactive local fine tuning for broader neighborhood exploration. This achieves better convergence as well as discovering any gaps or missing tradeoff regions at each generation. Other advanced features include a proposed preserved strategy to ensure better stability and diversity of the Pareto front and a convergence representation based on the concept of online population domination to provide useful information. Extensive simulations are performed on two benchmark and one practical engineering design problems     

基于智能体的多目标社会进化算法

提出了一种基于智能体的多目标社会进化算法用以求解多目标优化问题(multiobjective optimization problems,简称MOPs),通过多智能体进化的思想来完成Pareto 解集的寻优过程.该方法定义可信任度来表示智能体间的历史活动信息,并据此确定智能体的邻域、控制智能体间的行为.针对多目标问题的特点,设计了3 个进化算子分别体现适者生存、弱肉强食、多样性原则以及自学习的特性.同时采用擂台赛法则构造Pareto 解的存储种群.仿真实验结果表明,该算法能够较好地收敛到Pareto 最优解集上,并且具有良好的多样性.另外,通过对智能体局部邻域环境建立方式的分析结果表明引入“关系网模型”可有效提高算法的收敛速度,并能在一定程度上提高解的质量.     

A multiobjective memetic algorithm based on particle swarm optimization.

In this paper, a new memetic algorithm (MA) for multiobjective (MO) optimization is proposed, which combines the global search ability of particle swarm optimization with a synchronous local search heuristic for directed local fine-tuning. A new particle updating strategy is proposed based upon the concept of fuzzy global-best to deal with the problem of premature convergence and diversity maintenance within the swarm. The proposed features are examined to show their individual and combined effects in MO optimization. The comparative study shows the effectiveness of the proposed MA, which produces solution sets that are highly competitive in terms of convergence, diversity, and distribution.     

一种基于云模型的多目标进化算法

在多目标进化算法的基础上,提出了一种基于云模型的多目标进化算法(CMOEA).算法设计了一种新的变异算子来自适应地调整变异概率,使得算法具有良好的局部搜索能力.算法采用小生境技术,其半径按X条件云发生器非线性动态地调整以便于保持解的多样性,同时动态计算个体的拥挤距离并采用云模型参数来估计个体的拥挤度,逐个删除种群中超出的非劣解以保持解的分布性.将该算法用于多目标0/1背包问题来测试CMOEA的性能,并与目前最流行且有效的多目标进化算法NSGA-II及SPEA2进行了比较.结果表明,CMOEA具有良好的搜索性能,并能很好地维持种群的多样性,快速收敛到Pareto前沿,所获得的Pareto最优解集具有更好的收敛性与分布性.     

A tool for multiobjective evolutionary algorithms

This paper introduces a software tool based on illustrative applications for the development, analysis and application of multiobjective evolutionary algorithms. The multiobjective evolutionary algorithms tool (MOEAT) written in C# using a variety of multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) offers a powerful environment for various kinds of optimization tasks. It has many useful features such as visualizing of the progress and the results of optimization in a dynamic or static mode, and decision variable settings. The performance measurements of well-known multiobjective evolutionary algorithms in MOEAT are done using benchmark problems. In addition, two case studies from engineering domain are presented.     

一种基于自适应模糊支配的高维多目标粒子群算法

高维多目标优化问题由于具有巨大的目标空间使得一些经典的多目标优化算法面临挑战.提出一种基于自适应模糊支配的高维多目标粒子群算法MAPSOAF,该算法定义了一种自适应的模糊支配关系,通过对模糊支配的阈值自适应变化若干步长,在加强个体间支配能力的同时实现对种群选择压力的精细化控制,以改善算法的收敛性;其次,通过从外部档案集中选取扰动粒子,并在粒子速度更新公式中新增一扰动项以克服粒子群早熟收敛并改善个体分布的均匀性;另外,算法利用简化的Harmonic归一化距离评估个体的密度,在改善种群分布性的同时降低算法的计算代价.该算法与另外五种高性能的多目标进化算法在标准测试函数集DTLZ{1,2,4,5}上进行对比实验,结果表明该算法在收敛性和多样性方面总体上具有较显著的性能优势.     

PSO-Based Multiobjective Optimization With Dynamic Population Size and Adaptive Local Archives

Recently, various multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithms have been developed to efficiently and effectively solve multiobjective optimization problems. However, the existing MOPSO designs generally adopt a notion to “estimate” a fixed population size sufficiently to explore the search space without incurring excessive computational complexity. To address the issue, this paper proposes the integration of a dynamic population strategy within the multiple-swarm MOPSO. The proposed algorithm is named dynamic population multiple-swarm MOPSO. An additional feature, adaptive local archives, is designed to improve the diversity within each swarm. Performance metrics and benchmark test functions are used to examine the performance of the proposed algorithm compared with that of five selected MOPSOs and two selected multiobjective evolutionary algorithms. In addition, the computational cost of the proposed algorithm is quantified and compared with that of the selected MOPSOs. The proposed algorithm shows competitive results with improved diversity and convergence and demands less computational cost.      

基于改进K 支配排序的高维多目标进化算法

为提高4目标以上高维多目标优化问题的求解性能,提出一种基于改进K支配排序的高维多目标进化算法(KS-MODE).该算法针对K支配的支配关系和排序方法进行改进,避免循环支配并增强选择压力;设计新的全局密度估计方法提高局部密度估计精确性;设计新的精英选择策略和适应度值评价函数;采用CAO局部搜索算子加速收敛.在4～30个目标标准测试函数上的实验结果表明,KS-MODE能够在保证解集分布性的同时大幅提升收敛性和稳定性,能够有效求解高维多目标优化问题.     

基于目标空间划分的自适应多目标进化算法

目前,多目标进化算法在众多领域具有极高的应用价值,是优化领域的研究热点之一.分析已有多目标进化算法在保持种群多样性方面的不足并提出一种基于解空间划分的自适应多目标进化算法（space division basedadaptive multiobjective evolutionary algorithm,简称SDA-MOEA）来解决多目标优化问题.该方法首先将多目标优化问题的解空间划分为大量子空间,在算法进化过程中,每个子空间都保留一个非支配解集,以保证种群的多样性.另外,该方法根据每个子空间推进种群前进的距离,自适应地为每个子空间分配进化机会,以提高种群的进化速度.最后,利用3组共14个多目标优化问题检验SDA-MOEA的性能,并将SDA-MOEA与其他5个已有多目标进化算法进行对比分析.实验结果表明：在10个问题上,算法SDA-MOEA显著优于其他对比算法.     

A hybrid evolutionary multiobjective optimization strategy for the dynamic power supply problem in magnesia grain manufacturing

The supply trajectory of electric power for submerged arc magnesia furnace determines the yields and grade of magnesia grain during the manufacture process. As the two production targets (i.e., the yields and the grade of magnesia grain) are conflicting and the process is subject to changing conditions, the supply of electric power needs to be dynamically optimized to track the moving Pareto optimal set with time. A hybrid evolutionary multiobjective optimization strategy is proposed to address the dynamic multiobjective optimization problem. The hybrid strategy is based on two techniques. The first one uses case-based reasoning to immediately generate good solutions to adjust the power supply once the environment changes, and then apply a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm to accurately solve the problem. The second one is to learn the case solutions to guide and promote the search of the evolutionary algorithm, and the best solutions found by the evolutionary algorithm can be used to update the case library to improve the accuracy of case-based reasoning in the following process. Due to the effectiveness of mutual promotion, the hybrid strategy can continuously adapt and search in dynamic environments. Two prominent multiobjective evolutionary algorithms are integrated into the hybrid strategy to solve the dynamic multiobjective power supply optimization problem. The results from a series of experiments show that the proposed hybrid algorithms perform better than their component multiobjective evolutionary algorithms for the tested problems.     

An Effective PSO-Based Hybrid Algorithm for Multiobjective Permutation Flow Shop Scheduling

This paper proposes a hybrid algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) for a multiobjective permutation flow shop scheduling problem, which is a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with strong engineering backgrounds. Not only does the proposed multiobjective algorithm (named MOPSO) apply the parallel evolution mechanism of PSO characterized by individual improvement, population cooperation, and competition to effectively perform exploration but it also utilizes several adaptive local search methods to perform exploitation. First, to make PSO suitable for solving scheduling problems, a ranked-order value (ROV) rule based on a random key technique to convert the continuous position values of particles to job permutations is presented. Second, a multiobjective local search based on the Nawaz-Enscore-Ham heuristic is applied to good solutions with a specified probability to enhance the exploitation ability. Third, to enrich the searching behavior and to avoid premature convergence, a multiobjective local search based on simulated annealing with multiple different neighborhoods is designed, and an adaptive meta-Lamarckian learning strategy is employed to decide which neighborhood will be used. Due to the fusion of multiple different searching operations, good solutions approximating the real Pareto front can be obtained. In addition, MOPSO adopts a random weighted linear sum function to aggregate multiple objectives to a single one for solution evaluation and for guiding the evolution process in the multiobjective sense. Due to the randomness of weights, searching direction can be enriched, and solutions with good diversity can be obtained. Simulation results and comparisons based on a variety of instances demonstrate the effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness of the proposed hybrid algorithm.     

EvoOligo: Oligonucleotide Probe Design With Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms

Probe design is one of the most important tasks in successful deoxyribonucleic acid microarray experiments. We propose a multiobjective evolutionary optimization method for oligonucleotide probe design based on the multiobjective nature of the probe design problem. The proposed multiobjective evolutionary approach has several distinguished features, compared with previous methods. First, the evolutionary approach can find better probe sets than existing simple filtering methods with fixed threshold values. Second, the multiobjective approach can easily incorporate the user's custom criteria or change the existing criteria. Third, our approach tries to optimize the combination of probes for the given set of genes, in contrast to other tools that independently search each gene for qualifying probes. Lastly, the multiobjective optimization method provides various sets of probe combinations, among which the user can choose, depending on the target application. The proposed method is implemented as a platform called EvoOligo and is available for service on the Web. We test the performance of EvoOligo by designing probe sets for 19 types of Human Papillomavirus and 52 genes in the Arabidopsis Calmodulin multigene family. The design results from EvoOligo are proven to be superior to those from well-known existing probe design tools, such as OligoArray and OligoWiz.     

A memetic algorithm with adaptive hill climbing strategy for dynamic optimization problems

Dynamic optimization problems challenge traditional evolutionary algorithms seriously since they, once converged, cannot adapt quickly to environmental changes. This paper investigates the application of memetic algorithms, a class of hybrid evolutionary algorithms, for dynamic optimization problems. An adaptive hill climbing method is proposed as the local search technique in the framework of memetic algorithms, which combines the features of greedy crossover-based hill climbing and steepest mutation-based hill climbing. In order to address the convergence problem, two diversity maintaining methods, called adaptive dual mapping and triggered random immigrants, respectively, are also introduced into the proposed memetic algorithm for dynamic optimization problems. Based on a series of dynamic problems generated from several stationary benchmark problems, experiments are carried out to investigate the performance of the proposed memetic algorithm in comparison with some peer evolutionary algorithms. The experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed memetic algorithm in dynamic environments.     

Balance between genetic search and local search in memetic algorithms for multiobjective permutation flowshop scheduling

This paper shows how the performance of evolutionary multiobjective optimization (EMO) algorithms can be improved by hybridization with local search. The main positive effect of the hybridization is the improvement in the convergence speed to the Pareto front. On the other hand, the main negative effect is the increase in the computation time per generation. Thus, the number of generations is decreased when the available computation time is limited. As a result, the global search ability of EMO algorithms is not fully utilized. These positive and negative effects are examined by computational experiments on multiobjective permutation flowshop scheduling problems. Results of our computational experiments clearly show the importance of striking a balance between genetic search and local search. In this paper, we first modify our former multiobjective genetic local search (MOGLS) algorithm by choosing only good individuals as initial solutions for local search and assigning an appropriate local search direction to each initial solution. Next, we demonstrate the importance of striking a balance between genetic search and local search through computational experiments. Then we compare the modified MOGLS with recently developed EMO algorithms: the strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm and revised nondominated sorting genetic algorithm. Finally, we demonstrate that a local search can be easily combined with those EMO algorithms for designing multiobjective memetic algorithms.     

一种基于偶图匹配的多目标分解进化算法

针对基于分解的多目标进化(MOEA/D)算法在选择下一代解时未考虑解和子问题之间的相对距离,可能导致算法得到的最终解多样性较差的问题,提出一种基于偶图匹配的多目标分解进化(MOEA/D-BM)算法.所提算法利用偶图匹配模型对解和子问题的相互关系进行建模,在选择下一代解的同时,考虑收敛性和多样性,以提高算法性能.通过与其他3种经典的多目标分解进化算法在多个测试函数上进行实验,验证了所提出算法的有效性.     

Convergence Acceleration Operator for Multiobjective Optimization

A convergence acceleration operator (CAO) is described which enhances the search capability and the speed of convergence of the host multiobjective optimization algorithm. The operator acts directly in the objective space to suggest improvements to solutions obtained by a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA). The suggested improved objective vectors are then mapped into the decision variable space and tested. This method improves upon prior work in a number of important respects, such as mapping technique and solution improvement. Further, the paper discusses implications for many-objective problems and studies the impact of the use of the CAO as the number of objectives increases. The CAO is incorporated with two leading MOEAs, the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm and the strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm and tested. Results show that the hybridized algorithms consistently improve the speed of convergence of the original algorithm while maintaining the desired distribution of solutions. It is shown that the operator is a transferable component that can be hybridized with any MOEA.      

Combining convergence and diversity in evolutionary multiobjective optimization

Over the past few years, the research on evolutionary algorithms has demonstrated their niche in solving multiobjective optimization problems, where the goal is to find a number of Pareto-optimal solutions in a single simulation run. Many studies have depicted different ways evolutionary algorithms can progress towards the Pareto-optimal set with a widely spread distribution of solutions. However, none of the multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) has a proof of convergence to the true Pareto-optimal solutions with a wide diversity among the solutions. In this paper, we discuss why a number of earlier MOEAs do not have such properties. Based on the concept of epsilon-dominance, new archiving strategies are proposed that overcome this fundamental problem and provably lead to MOEAs that have both the desired convergence and distribution properties. A number of modifications to the baseline algorithm are also suggested. The concept of epsilon-dominance introduced in this paper is practical and should make the proposed algorithms useful to researchers and practitioners alike.     

基于分解的多目标多因子进化算法

多目标多因子优化(MO-MFO)问题作为一类新的优化问题近年来受到了众多关注,其特点是需要利用单个种群来同时优化多个多目标优化任务.针对该问题,提出一个基于分解策略的多目标多因子进化算法(MFEA/D).算法通过多组权重向量,将MO-MFO问题中的每个任务分解成一系列单目标优化子问题,并用单个种群同时优化.在种群进化过程中提出不同任务之间的信息交流策略,以充分挖掘不同任务之间的有用信息,进而加快每个任务的收敛速度.基于10个多目标多因子标准测试问题的实验结果表明,所提出的不同任务之间的信息交流策略能够加快问题的求解速度,使得MFEA/D算法显著优于当前的MO-MFEA算法.