An AHP model of DSS effectiveness

Empirical studies have reported equivocal, or even dysfunctional, results from the use of decision support systems (DSS). Recent examples are the Davis, Kottemann, and Remus production planning experiments. According to the researchers, these experiments demonstrate that DSS what-if analysis creates an ‘illusion of control’ that causes users to overestimate its effectiveness. Such experimental findings are contrary to case-supported DSS theory. This paper examines the discrepancy. It first overviews the decision-making process, presents a generic DSS, identifies the theoretical role of the DSS in improving decision making, develops a multiple criteria model of DSS effectiveness, and gives a DSS for delivering the model to users. Illustrating with recent empirical investigations and the Davis, Kottemann, and Remus studies, the DSS-delivered model is used to reconcile the incongruity between the experimental findings and the case-supported theory. The paper concludes with a discussion of the article's implications for information systems research and practice.     

求解置换流水车间调度问题的改进遗传算法

针对置换流水车间调度问题的基本特征和传统遗传算法易早熟的缺陷,设计了改进遗传算法来求解此问题。采用NEH和Palmer启发式算法进行种群初始化,以提高初始解的质量;根据Metropolis准则对染色体进行选择操作,避免陷入局部最优;在变异过程中引入禁忌算法,避免迂回搜索;在算法迭代过程中引入了保优机制,避免丢失优秀染色体的基因信息;采用自适应终止准则,以保证解的质量。基于典型Benchmark算例的仿真实验结果表明,算法在求解质量和收敛速度方面明显优于NEH算法和种群经过初始优化的传统遗传算法。     

A Neurogenetic approach for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

A variety of metaheuristic approaches have emerged in recent years for solving the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP), a well-known NP-hard problem in scheduling. In this paper, we propose a Neurogenetic approach which is a hybrid of genetic algorithms (GA) and neural-network (NN) approaches. In this hybrid approach the search process relies on GA iterations for global search and on NN iterations for local search. The GA and NN search iterations are interleaved in a manner that allows NN to pick the best solution thus far from the GA pool and perform an intensification search in the solution's local neighborhood. Similarly, good solutions obtained by NN search are included in the GA population for further search using the GA iterations. Although both GA and NN approaches, independently give good solutions, we found that the hybrid approach gives better solutions than either approach independently for the same number of shared iterations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach empirically on the standard benchmark problems of size J30, J60, J90 and J120 from PSPLIB.     

Recognition of control chart patterns using fuzzy SVM with a hybrid kernel function

Accurate control chart patterns recognition (CCPR) plays an essential role in the implementation of control charts. However, it is a challenging problem since nonrandom control chart patterns (CCPs) are normally distorted by “common process variations”. In this paper, a novel method of CCPR by integrating fuzzy support vector machine (SVM) with hybrid kernel function and genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed. Firstly, two shape features and two statistical features that do not depend on the distribution parameters and number of samples are presented to explicitly describe the characteristics of CCPs. Then, a novel multiclass method based on fuzzy SVM with a hybrid kernel function is proposed. In this method, the influence of outliers on classification accuracy of SVM-based classifiers is weakened by assigning a degree of membership for every training sample. Meanwhile, a hybrid kernel function combining Gaussian kernel and polynomial kernel is adopted to further enhance the generalization ability of the classifiers. To solve the issue of features selection and parameters optimization, GA is used to simultaneously optimize the input features subsets and parameters of fuzzy SVM-based classifier. Finally, several simulation experiments and a real example are addressed to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology. And the results of simulation experiments demonstrate that it can achieve excellent performance for CCPR and outperforms other approaches, such as learning vector quantization network, multi-layer perceptron network, probability neural network, fuzzy clustering and SVM, in term of recognition accuracy. The results of the practical cases manifest that the proposed method has application potential for solving the problem of control chart interpretation in real-world.     

Particle swarm optimization with crazy particles for nonconvex economic dispatch

The paper presents an effective evolutionary method for economic power dispatch. The idea is to allocate power demand to the on-line power generators in such a manner that the cost of operation is minimized. Conventional methods assume quadratic or piecewise quadratic cost curves of power generators but modern generating units have non-linearities which make this assumption inaccurate. Evolutionary optimization methods such as genetic algorithms (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are free from convexity assumptions and succeed in achieving near global solutions due to their excellent parallel search capability. But these methods usually tend to converge prematurely to a local minimum solution, particularly when the search space is irregular. To tackle this problem “crazy particles” are introduced and their velocities are randomized to maintain momentum in the search and avoid saturation. The performance of the PSO with crazy particles has been tested on two model test systems, compared with GA and classical PSO and found to be superior.     

PBIL算法在组合优化问题中的应用研究

基于群体的增量学习(PBIL)算法有效结合了遗传算法和竞争学习的优点,运行过程简单,解决问题快速准确。本文提出将PBIL算法应用于求解CMN组合优化问题,以物流中心选址优化问题为例,介绍了基于PBIL求解CMN组合优化问题的一般方法,提出了针对此类问题的个体产生算法。为了提高算法的收敛速度和寻优能力,提出了基于当代最优解与历代最优解比较结果的概率学习加速方法。最后,通过实验仿真验证了上述改进的有效性。     

Simulation-based heuristic method for container supply chain network optimization

With the emerging of free trade zones (FTZs) in the world, the service level of container supply chain plays an important role in the efficiency, quality and cost of the world trade. The performance of container supply chain network directly impacts its service level. Therefore, it is imperative to seek an appropriate method to optimize the container supply chain network architecture. This paper deals with the modeling and optimization problem of multi-echelon container supply chain network (MCSCN). The problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming model (MIP), where the objective is subject to the minimization of the total supply chain service cost. Since the problem is well known to be NP-hard, a novel simulation-based heuristic method is proposed to solving it, where the heuristic is used for searching near-optimal solutions, and the simulation is used for evaluating solutions and repairing unfeasible solutions. The heuristic algorithm integrates genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, where the GA is used for global search and the PSO is used for local search. Finally, computational experiments are conducted to validate the performance of the proposed method and give some managerial implications.     

Dual hierarchical genetic-optimal control: A new global optimal path planning method for robots

A new two-stage analytical-evolutionary algorithm considering dynamic equations is presented to find global optimal path. The analytical method is based on the indirect open loop optimal control problem and the evolutionary method is based on genetic algorithm (GA). Initial solutions, as start points of optimal control problem, are generated by GA to be used by optimal control. Then, a new sub-optimal path is generated through optimal control. The cost function is calculated for every optimal solution and the best solutions are chosen for the next step. The obtained path is used by GA to produce new generation of start points. This process continues until the minimum cost value is achieved. In addition, a new GA operator is introduced to be compatible with optimal control. It is used to select the pair chromosomes for crossover. The proposed method eliminates the problem of optimal control (being trapped in locally optimal point) and problem of GA (lack of compatibility with analytical dynamic equations). Hence problem is formulated and verification is done by comparing the results with a recent work in this area. Furthermore effectiveness of the method is approved by a simulation study for spatial non-holonomic mobile manipulators through conventional optimal control and the new proposed algorithm.     

Krill herd algorithm for optimal location of distributed generator in radial distribution system

Distributed generator (DG) is recognized as a viable solution for controlling line losses, bus voltage, voltage stability, etc. and represents a new era for distribution systems. This paper focuses on developing an approach for placement of DG in order to minimize the active power loss and energy loss of distribution lines while maintaining bus voltage and voltage stability index within specified limits of a given power system. The optimization is carried out on the basis of optimal location and optimal size of DG. This paper developed a new, efficient and novel krill herd algorithm (KHA) method for solving the optimal DG allocation problem of distribution networks. To test the feasibility and effectiveness, the proposed KH algorithm is tested on standard 33-bus, 69-bus and 118-bus radial distribution networks. The simulation results indicate that installing DG in the optimal location can significantly reduce the power loss of distributed power system. Moreover, the numerical results, compared with other stochastic search algorithms like genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), combined GA and PSO (GA/PSO) and loss sensitivity factor simulated annealing (LSFSA), show that KHA could find better quality solutions.     

Self-adaptive Bat Algorithm With Genetic Operations

Swarm intelligence in a bat algorithm (BA) provides social learning. Genetic operations for reproducing individuals in a genetic algorithm (GA) offer global search ability in solving complex optimization problems. Their integration provides an opportunity for improved search performance. However, existing studies adopt only one genetic operation of GA, or design hybrid algorithms that divide the overall population into multiple subpopulations that evolve in parallel with limited interactions only. Differing from them, this work proposes an improved self-adaptive bat algorithm with genetic operations (SBAGO) where GA and BA are combined in a highly integrated way. Specifically, SBAGO performs their genetic operations of GA on previous search information of BA solutions to produce new exemplars that are of high-diversity and high-quality. Guided by these exemplars, SBAGO improves both BA’s efficiency and global search capability. We evaluate this approach by using 29 widely-adopted problems from four test suites. SBAGO is also evaluated by a real-life optimization problem in mobile edge computing systems. Experimental results show that SBAGO outperforms its widely-used and recently proposed peers in terms of effectiveness, search accuracy, local optima avoidance, and robustness.      

Genetic algorithm with iterated local search for solving a location-routing problem

This paper deals with a location routing problem with multiple capacitated depots and one uncapacitated vehicle per depot. We seek for new methods to make location and routing decisions simultaneously and efficiently. For that purpose, we describe a genetic algorithm (GA) combined with an iterative local search (ILS). The main idea behind our hybridization is to improve the solutions generated by the GA using a ILS to intensify the search space. Numerical experiments show that our hybrid algorithm improves, for all instances, the best known solutions previously obtained by the tabu search heuristic.     

A hybrid computational strategy for identification of structural parameters

By identifying parameters such as stiffness values of a structural system, the numerical model can be updated to give more accurate response prediction or to monitor the state of the structure. Considerable progress has been made in this subject area, but most research works have considered only small systems. A major challenge lies in obtaining good identification results for systems with many unknown parameters. In this study, a non-classical approach is adopted involving the use of genetic algorithms (GA). Nevertheless, direct application of GA does not necessarily work, particularly with regards to computational efficiency in fine-tuning when the solution approaches the optimal value. A hybrid computational strategy is thus proposed, combining GA with a compatible local search operator. Two hybrid methods are formulated and illustrated by numerical simulation studies to perform significantly better than the GA method without local search. A fairly large structural system with 52 unknown parameters is identified with good results, taking into consideration the effects of incomplete measurement and noisy data.     

Development of hybrid genetic algorithms for product line designs.

In this paper, we investigate the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI) based meta-heuristic techniques namely genetic algorithms (GAs), for the product line design problem. This work extends previously developed methods for the single product design problem. We conduct a large scale simulation study to determine the effectiveness of such an AI based technique for providing good solutions and bench mark the performance of this against the current dominant approach of beam search (BS). We investigate the potential advantages of pursuing the avenue of developing hybrid models and then implement and study such hybrid models using two very distinct approaches: namely, seeding the initial GA population with the BS solution, and employing the BS solution as part of the GA operator's process. We go on to examine the impact of two alternate string representation formats on the quality of the solutions obtained by the above proposed techniques. We also explicitly investigate a critical managerial factor of attribute importance in terms of its impact on the solutions obtained by the alternate modeling procedures. The alternate techniques are then evaluated, using statistical analysis of variance, on a fairy large number of data sets, as to the quality of the solutions obtained with respect to the state-of-the-art benchmark and in terms of their ability to provide multiple, unique product line options.     

Optimal power flow solution using improved harmony search method

This paper describes the improved harmony search method (IHS) to solve optimal power flow (OPF) problems. The harmony search is one of meta-heuristic search methods inspired by the improvisation of musicians developed by Geem (2001) [23]. The proposed algorithm was tested with five standard IEEE test systems (6-bus, 14-bus, 30-bus, 57-bus and 118-bus test systems). The tests were divided into smooth and non-smooth fuel-cost cases. The comparisons among solutions obtained by sequential quadratic programming (SQP), genetic algorithms (GA) and IHS were conducted. As revealed from the simulated results, the effectiveness of the IHS for solving OPF problems was confirmed.     

Assessing the impacts of South-to-North Water Transfer Project with decision support systems

The South to North Water Transfer Project is one of the four largest trans-century projects in China, which is expected to be completed by 2008. The project seeks to promote Northern China's economic growth by relaxing water constraints in a region now facing severe water shortage. In this paper, a decision support system (DSS) for assessing the social–economic impact of China's South-to-North (S2N) Water Transfer project is presented. The DSS provides decision support through simulation with an embedded water computable general equilibrium model (WCGE). The system is able to perform qualitative analysis on regional water resource vulnerability with mathematical modeling. In addition, the system is also able to examine a region's water demand–supply balance dynamics through forecasting with the WCGE model on the basis of various scenarios for the time horizon up to the year 2020. The what-if analysis performed by the DSS shows that the incremental water supply from the project helps the recipient region to catch up with the development pace of the country as a whole.     

Modified genetic algorithms for solving fuzzy flow shop scheduling problems and their implementation with CUDA

In this paper we propose an improved algorithm to search optimal solutions to the flow shop scheduling problems with fuzzy processing times and fuzzy due dates. A longest common substring method is proposed to combine with the random key method. Numerical simulation shows that longest common substring method combined with rearranging mating method improves the search efficiency of genetic algorithm in this problem. For application in large-sized problems, we also enhance this modified algorithm by CUDA based parallel computation. Numerical experiments show that the performances of the CUDA program on GPU compare favorably to the traditional programs on CPU. Based on the modified algorithm invoking with CUDA scheme, we can search satisfied solutions to the fuzzy flow shop scheduling problems with high performance.     

A new adaptive genetic algorithm for fixed channel assignment

This paper presents a new genetic algorithm (GA) with good convergence properties and a remarkable low computational load. Such features are achieved by on-line tuning up the probabilities of mutation and crossover on the basis of the analysis of the individuals’ fitness entropy. This way, a brand new method to control and adjust the population diversity is obtained. The resulting GA attains quality solutions, thus offering an interesting alternative to other global search techniques, such as simulated annealing, Tabu search and neural networks, as well as to standard GAs. The new algorithm is applied to solve the problem of frequency reuse in mobile cellular communication systems, where the main aim is to obtain a conflict-free channel assignment among the cells such that the resulting bandwidth is close to the minimum channel span required for the whole network. The algorithm performance has been tested and compared by making use of a selection of the most well-known benchmark instances; optimal bandwidth solutions have been achieved within a reasonable computation time.     

Goal state optimization algorithm considering computational resource constraints and uncertainty in task execution time

A search methodology with goal state optimization considering computational resource constraints is proposed. The combination of “an extended graph search methodology” and “parallelization of task execution and online planning” makes it possible to solve the problem. The uncertainty of the task execution time is also considered. The problem can be solved by utilizing a random-based and/or a greedy-based graph-searching methodology. The proposed method is evaluated using a rearrangement problem of 20 movable objects with uncertainty in the task execution time, and the effectiveness is shown with simulation results.     

Comparison of particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithm for FACTS-based controller design

Recently, genetic algorithms (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique have attracted considerable attention among various modern heuristic optimization techniques. The GA has been popular in academia and the industry mainly because of its intuitiveness, ease of implementation, and the ability to effectively solve highly non-linear, mixed integer optimization problems that are typical of complex engineering systems. PSO technique is a relatively recent heuristic search method whose mechanics are inspired by the swarming or collaborative behavior of biological populations. Since the two approaches are supposed to find a solution to a given objective function but employ different strategies and computational effort, it is appropriate to compare their performance. This paper presents the application and performance comparison of PSO and GA optimization techniques, for flexible ac transmission system (FACTS)-based controller design. The design objective is to enhance the power system stability. The design problem of the FACTS-based controller is formulated as an optimization problem and both PSO and GA optimization techniques are employed to search for optimal controller parameters. The performance of both optimization techniques in terms of computational effort, computational time and convergence rate is compared. Further, the optimized controllers are tested on a weakly connected power system subjected to different disturbances over a wide range of loading conditions and parameter variations and their performance is compared with the conventional power system stabilizer (CPSS). The eigenvalue analysis and non-linear simulation results are presented and compared to show the effectiveness of both the techniques in designing a FACTS-based controller, to enhance power system stability.