Efficient Acquisition Functions for Bayesian Optimization in the Presence of Hidden Constraints

Learning control policies in robotic tasks requires a large number of interactions due to small learning rates, bounds on the updates or unknown constraints. In contrast humans can infer protective and safe solutions after a single failure or unexpected observation. In order to reach similar performance, we developed a hierarchical Bayesian optimization algorithm that replicates the cognitive inference and memorization process for avoiding failures in motor control tasks. A Gaussian Process implements the modeling and the sampling of the acquisition function. This enables rapid learning with large learning rates while a mental replay phase ensures that policy regions that led to failures are inhibited during the sampling process. The features of the hierarchical Bayesian optimization method are evaluated in a simulated and physiological humanoid postural balancing task. The method out- performs standard optimization techniques, such as Bayesian Optimization, in the number of interactions to solve the task, in the computational demands and in the frequency of observed failures. Further, we show that our method performs similar to humans for learning the postural balancing task by comparing our simulation results with real human data.

To address the problems of local optima and insufficient convergence accuracy in parameter identification of primary frequency regulation (PFR) for steam turbines, this paper proposed a hybrid identification method that integrated an Improved Bayesian Optimization (IBO) algorithm and an Improved Whale Optimization Algorithm (IWOA). By initializing the Bayesian parameter population using Tent chaotic mapping and the reverse learning strategy, employing a radial basis kernel function hyperparameter training mechanism based on the Adam optimizer and optimizing the Expected Improvement (EI) function using the Limited-memory Broyden–Fletcher– Goldfarb–Shanno with Bounds (L-BFGS-B) method, IBO was proposed to obtain the optimal candidate set with the smallest objective function value. By introducing a nonlinear convergence factor and the adaptive Levy flight perturbation strategy, IWOA was proposed to obtain locally optimized optimal solutions. By using the reverse-guided optimization mechanism and employing a fitness-oriented selection strategy, the optimal solution was chosen to complete the closed-loop process of reverse learning feedback. Nine standard test functions and the Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) parameter identification of the electro-hydraulic servo system in a 330 MW steam turbine were presented as examples. Compared with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), Bayesian Optimization (BO) and Particle Swarm Optimization-Grey Wolf Optimizer (PSO-GWO), the Improved Bayesian Optimization-Whale Optimization Algorithm (IBO-WOA) proposed in this paper has been validated to effectively avoid the problem of getting stuck in local optima during complex optimization and has high parameter recognition accuracy. Meanwhile, an Out-Of-Distribution (OOD) Test based on noise injection had demonstrated that IBO-WOA had good robustness. The time constant identification of the steam turbine were carried out using IBO-WOA under two experimental conditions, and the identification results were input into the PFR model. The simulated power curve can track the experimental measured curve well, proving that the parameter identification results obtained by IBO-WOA have high accuracy and can be used for the modeling and response characteristic analysis of the steam turbine PFR.

Load forecasting impacts directly financial returns and information in electrical systems planning. A promising approach to load forecasting is the Echo State Network (ESN), a recurrent neural network for the processing of temporal dependencies. The low computational cost and powerful performance of ESN make it widely used in a range of applications including forecasting tasks and nonlinear modeling. This paper presents a Bayesian optimization algorithm (BOA) of ESN hyperparameters in load forecasting with its main contributions including helping the selection of optimization algorithms for tuning ESN to solve real-world forecasting problems, as well as the evaluation of the performance of Bayesian optimization with different acquisition function settings. For this purpose, the ESN hyperparameters were set as variables to be optimized. Then, the adopted BOA employs a probabilist model using Gaussian process to find the best set of ESN hyperparameters using three different options of acquisition function and a surrogate utility function. Finally, the optimized hyperparameters are used by the ESN for predictions. Two datasets have been used to test the effectiveness of the proposed forecasting ESN model using BOA approaches, one from Poland and another from Brazil. The results of optimization statistics, convergence curves, execution time profile, and the hyperparameters’ best solution frequencies indicate that each problem requires a different setting for the BOA. Simulation results are promising in terms of short-term load forecasting quality and low error predictions may be achieved, given the correct options settings are used. Furthermore, since there is not an optimal global optimization solution known for real-world problems, correlations among certain values of hyperparameters are useful to guide the selection of such a solution.

Bayesian optimization (BO) is a versatile and robust global optimization method under uncertainty. However, most of the BO algorithms were developed for problems with only continuous variables. For practical engineering optimization, discrete variables are also prevalent. BO methods based on Gaussian process (GP) surrogates also suffers from the curse-of-dimensionality problem. To address these challenges, in this paper, a Bayesian discrete optimization algorithm is introduced to solve permutation-based combinatorial problems. A new kernel function is developed based on position distances for permutation. To improve the efficiency and scalability of the algorithm, a sparse GP model based on inducing points is further developed, where the simulated annealing algorithm is applied to select inducing points. The new algorithm is demonstrated and tested with the production scheduling problem for additive manufacturing. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can find a better solution with limited evaluations than state-of-the-art algorithms.

Electrochemical machining is a promising non-traditional manufacturing process to make high-quality parts. The benefits of minimal thermally and mechanically induced stresses, free of burr, and a low surface roughness are appealing for industry and research institutes. However, the combined chemical reaction, electric field, fluid mechanics, and material properties involve a significant number of independent parameters which are difficult to analyze in order to draw comprehensive conclusions. To our current knowledge, process responses such as the material removal rate, optimal feed rate, and cutting profile cannot be represented accurately by analytical solutions. In recent years, deep learning has had tremendous success in analyzing sophisticated systems. The improved computation efficiency and reduced size of the training dataset required for deep learning have enabled various prediction models in the manufacturing industry. In this paper, a new approach is developed using the deep convolutional network with the Bayesian optimization algorithm to predict the diameters of the drilled hole from an electrochemical machining process. The Keras application programming interface (API) was used to build the deep convolutional network; the feed rate, pulse-on time, and voltage were used as input parameters to provide a fair comparison with a neural network from previous research. Random dropout layers were added to prevent overfitting of the network. Instead of tuning the network parameter by trial and error, the Bayesian parameter optimization algorithm was implemented to find the optimal set of parameters of the deep convolutional network that yields the minimum mean square error. The proposed algorithm was compared with a previously developed neural network with partially embedded physical knowledge. Improved training speed and accuracy were observed in comparison with the traditional neural network. The prediction model using the proposed deep learning algorithm demonstrated better prediction accuracy and provided a more systematic way to select the hyperparameter for the deep convolutional network.

This paper incorporates Bayesian estimation and optimization into a portfolio selection framework, particularly for high-dimensional portfolios in which the number of assets is larger than the number of observations. We leverage a constrained minimization approach, called the linear programming optimal (LPO) portfolio, to directly estimate effective parameters appearing in the optimal portfolio. We propose two refinements for the LPO strategy. First, we explore improved Bayesian estimates, instead of sample estimates, of the covariance matrix of asset returns. Second, we introduce Bayesian optimization (BO) to replace traditional grid-search cross-validation (CV) in tuning hyperparameters of the LPO strategy. We further propose modifications in the BO algorithm by (1) taking into account the time-dependent nature of financial problems and (2) extending the commonly used expected improvement acquisition function to include a tunable trade-off with the improvement’s variance. Allowing a general case of noisy observations, we theoretically derive the sublinear convergence rate of BO under the newly proposed EIVar and thus our algorithm has no regret. Our empirical studies confirm that the adjusted BO results in portfolios with higher out-of-sample Sharpe ratio, certainty equivalent, and lower turnover compared to those tuned with CV. This superior performance is achieved with a significant reduction in time elapsed, thus also addressing time-consuming issues of CV. Furthermore, LPO with Bayesian estimates outperforms the original proposal of LPO, as well as the benchmark equally weighted and plugin strategies.

We propose an extrinsic Bayesian optimization (eBO) framework for general optimization problems on manifolds. Bayesian optimization algorithms build a surrogate of the objective function by employing Gaussian processes and utilizing the uncertainty in that surrogate by deriving an acquisition function. This acquisition function represents the probability of improvement based on the kernel of the Gaussian process, which guides the search in the optimization process. The critical challenge for designing Bayesian optimization algorithms on manifolds lies in the difficulty of constructing valid covariance kernels for Gaussian processes on general manifolds. Our approach is to employ extrinsic Gaussian processes by first embedding the manifold onto some higher dimensional Euclidean space via equivariant embeddings and then constructing a valid covariance kernel on the image manifold after the embedding. This leads to efficient and scalable algorithms for optimization over complex manifolds. Simulation study and real data analyses are carried out to demonstrate the utilities of our eBO framework by applying the eBO to various optimization problems over manifolds such as the sphere, the Grassmannian, and the manifold of positive definite matrices.

Key-frame extraction is a key technique of video retrieval. In view of the low accuracy of currently traditional key-frame extraction algorithm, and low recall level and accuracy of video retrieval, a kind of model of network video retrieval of dynamic Bayesian network optimization for the mobile terminal was put forward. First of all, the study of dynamic Bayesian network optimization algorithm was conducted, and by using a Bayesian algorithm, the real data were used as the characteristic of the center of clustering, then the condensed coarsening and the condensed refining that are two important processes for network video retrieval model algorithm were improved, used to replace the top core set obtained in the original coarsening process, thereby designing a kind of new dynamic Bayesian network optimization algorithm, so as to realize the rapid and accurate positioning of the top core set, which can decrease the number of condensed layer and simplify the computational complexity of the algorithm. Then, the improved network video retrieval model algorithm was applied to the key-frame extraction of the video. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can more effectively extract key frames of video compared with the original algorithm.

We propose a highly efficient searching algorithm in crystal structure prediction. The searching algorithm is a hybrid of the evolutionary algorithm and Bayesian optimization. The evolutionary algorithm is widely used in crystal structure prediction, and the Bayesian optimization is one of the selection-type algorithms we have developed. We have performed simulations of crystal structure prediction to compare the success rates of the random search, evolutionary algorithm, Bayesian optimization, and hybrid algorithm for up to ternary systems such as Si, Y2Co17, Al2O3, and CuGaS2, using the CrySPY code. These results demonstrate that the evolutionary algorithm can generate structures more efficiently than random structure generation, and the Bayesian optimization can efficiently select potential candidates from a large number of structures. Moreover, the hybrid algorithm, which has the advantages of both, is proved to be the most efficient searching algorithm among them.

Revolutionizing biochar synthesis for enhanced heavy metal adsorption: Harnessing machine learning and Bayesian optimization

Rather than optimizing expensive objective functions such as complex engineering simulations directly, Bayesian optimization methodologies fit a surrogate model (typically Kriging or a Gaussian Process) on evaluations of the objective function(s). To determine the next evaluation, an acquisition function is optimized (also referred to as infill criterion or sampling policy) which incorporates the model prediction and uncertainty and balances exploration and exploitation. Therefore, Bayesian optimization methodologies replace a single optimization of the objective function by a sequence of optimization problems: this makes sense as the acquisition function is cheap-to-evaluate whereas the objective is not. Depending on the goal different acquisition functions are available: multi-objective acquisition functions are relatively new and this chapter gives a state-of-the-art overview and illustrates some approaches based on hypervolume improvement. It is shown that the quality of the model is crucial for the performance of Bayesian optimization and illustrate this by using the more flexible Student-t processes as surrogate models.

Bayesian Optimization for Field-Scale Geological Carbon Storage

Bayesian Co-evolutionary Optimization based entropy search for high-dimensional many-objective optimization

pBO-2GP-3B: A batch parallel known/unknown constrained Bayesian optimization with feasibility classification and its applications in computational fluid dynamics

Bayesian optimization has emerged at the forefront of expensive black-box optimization due to its data efficiency. Recent years have witnessed a proliferation of studies on the development of new Bayesian optimization algorithms and their applications. Hence, this article attempts to provide a comprehensive and updated survey of recent advances in Bayesian optimization that are mainly based on Gaussian processes and identify challenging open problems. We categorize the existing work on Bayesian optimization into nine main groups according to the motivations and focus of the proposed algorithms. For each category, we present the main advances with respect to the construction of surrogate models and adaptation of the acquisition functions. Finally, we discuss the open questions and suggest promising future research directions, in particular with regard to heterogeneity, privacy preservation, and fairness in distributed and federated optimization systems.