Improved Reference Vector Guided Differential Evolution Algorithm for Many-Objective Optimization

Differential evolution with fusion of local and global search strategies

A local search enhanced differential evolutionary algorithm for sparse recovery

We propose a crossover-based adaptive local search (LS) operation for enhancing the performance of standard differential evolution (DE) algorithm. Incorporating LS heuristics is often very useful in designing an effective evolutionary algorithm for global optimization. However, determining a single LS length that can serve for a wide range of problems is a critical issue. We present a LS technique to solve this problem by adaptively adjusting the length of the search, using a hill-climbing heuristic. The emphasis of this paper is to demonstrate how this LS scheme can improve the performance of DE. Experimenting with a wide range of benchmark functions, we show that the proposed new version of DE, with the adaptive LS, performs better, or at least comparably, to classic DE algorithm. Performance comparisons with other LS heuristics and with some other well-known evolutionary algorithms from literature are also presented.

Differential evolution (DE) algorithm is a global optimization algorithm over continuous search space. DE also has been applied in many fields, such as artificial neural networks, chemical engineering, mechanical design, robotics, signal processing, biological information, and economics. At the same time, as a powerful evolutionary algorithm for solving global numerical optimization problems, the DE algorithm has drawn more and more attention. However, how to make a proper balance between the global and local search is a burning question and to limit the optimization performance of DE. In this paper, an improved algorithm η_CODE with a new η_Cauchy operator is proposed to enhance the global and local search ability of a well-known DE variant JADE. In order to guarantee the effective performance of the proposed operator, all the fitness values are ranked through a ranking scheme based on increasing order before a new η_Cauchy operator is conducted. The pNP individuals that have better fitness are selected and carried out Cauchy disturbance operation considering the complexity of the algorithm. The Dynamic parameter mechanism is utilized to select pNP individuals that number is also adjusted dynamically in each generation. The scale factor F and crossover probability CR are obtained with Lehmer mean without using determined parameter c in JADE, which aims to balance the exploration and exploitation of the algorithm during the running time. A total of sixty benchmark functions from CEC2014 and CEC2017 on real parameter optimization are employed to prove the validity of η_CODE for solving complex high-dimensional problems. The experiments indicate that η_CODE is better than or at least comparable with several state-of-the-art DE variants, including JADE, SinDE, TSDE, AGDE, and EFADE in the global numerical optimization problems. In order to further analyze the performance of η_CODE, we also select extra two high-powered modified algorithms called EBLSHADE and LSHADESPACMA based on LSHADE to discuss advantages and disadvantages of the proposed algorithm.

Decomposition-based evolutionary multi-objective algorithms (MOEAs) and many-objective algorithms (MaOEAs) divide a multi-objective problem (MOP) or a many-objective problem (MaOP) into several subproblems by using a set of predefined uniformly distributed reference vectors and can achieve good overall performance especially in maintaining population diversity. However, they encounter huge difficulties in addressing problems with irregular Pareto Fronts (PFs) since many reference vectors do not work during the searching process. To cope with this problem, this paper aims to improve an existing decomposition-based algorithm called reference vector guided evolutionary algorithm (RVEA) by designing an adaptive reference vectors adjustment strategy and strengthening the poor selection pressure. By adding the adaptive strategy, the predefined reference vectors will be dynamically adjusted according to the distribution of promising solutions with good overall performance and the subspaces where the PF lies may be further divided so as to contribute more to the searching process. Besides, the selection pressure with respect to convergence performance posed by RVEA is mainly from the length of normalized objective vectors and the metric is poor in evaluating the convergence performance of a solution with the increasing of objective size. Motivated by that, an improved angle-penalized distance (APD) method based on a newly proposed fractional dominance relation is developed to better distinguish solutions with sound convergence performance in each subspace. To investigate the performance of the proposed algorithm, extensive experiments are conducted to compare it with 5 state-of-the-art decomposition-based algorithms on 3-, 5-, 8-, 10- objective MaF1-MaF9. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm obtains the best overall performance.

Adaptive sliding mode control with hysteresis compensation-based neuroevolution for motion tracking of piezoelectric actuator

MEMPSODE: A global optimization software based on hybridization of population-based algorithms and local searches

An improved differential evolution (DE) method based on the dynamic search strategy (IDEBDSS) is proposed to solve dynamic economic dispatch problem with valve-point effects in this paper. The proposed method combines the DE algorithm with the dynamic search strategy, which improves the performance of the algorithm. DE is the main optimizer in the method proposed. While chaotic sequences are applied to obtain the dynamic parameter settings in DE, dynamic search strategy which consists of two steps, global search strategy and local search strategy, is used to improve algorithm efficiency. To accelerate convergence, a new infeasible solution handing method is adopted in the local search strategy; meanwhile, an orthogonal crossover (OX) operator is added to the global search strategy to enhance the optimization search ability. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods are demonstrated by three test systems, and the simulation results reveal that the IDEBDSS method can obtain better solutions with higher efficiency than the standard DE and other methods reported in the recent literature.

The volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) problem is highly non-convex and much more difficult than the fixed-field intensity modulated radiotherapy optimization problem. To solve it efficiently, we propose a sequential convex programming algorithm that solves a sequence of convex optimization problems. Beginning by optimizing the aperture weights of many (72) evenly distributed beams using the beam’s eye view of the target from each direction as the initial aperture shape, the search space is constrained to allowing the leaves to move within a pre-defined step-size. A convex approximation problem is introduced and solved to optimize the leaf positions and the aperture weights within the search space. The algorithm is equipped with both local and global search strategies, whereby a global search is followed by a local search: a large step-size results in a global search with a less accurate convex approximation, followed by a small step-size local search with an accurate convex approximation. The performance of the proposed algorithm is tested on three patients with three different disease sites (paraspinal, prostate and oligometastasis). The algorithm generates VMAT plans comparable to the ideal 72-beam fluence map optimized plans (i.e. IMRT plans before leaf sequencing) in 14 iterations and 36 mins on average. The algorithm is also tested on a small down-sampled prostate case for which we could computationally afford to obtain the ground-truth by solving the non-convex mixed-integer optimization problem exactly. This general algorithm is able to produce results essentially equivalent to the ground-truth but 12 times faster. The algorithm is also scalable and can handle real clinical cases, whereas the ground-truth solution using mixed-integer optimization can only be obtained for highly down-sampled cases.

In response to the low accuracy exhibited by the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), we propose an enhanced Differential Evolution and Bayesian Optimization Algorithm (DE-BOA) . This algorithm integrates the global search capability of the differential evolution algorithm with the local search capability of the Bayesian optimization algorithm, which enables a more comprehensive exploration of the vector solution space. A comparative analysis of various types of rainfall events is conducted. For model calibration and validation, a drainage subzone in Jinshazhou, Guangzhou City, is selected as the research subject. In total, 20 specific rainfall events are selected, and the DE-BOA algorithm outperforms the manual calibration, differential evolution algorithm, and Bayesian optimization algorithm regarding model calibration accuracy. Furthermore, the DE-BOA algorithm exhibits robust adaptability to rainfall events characterized by multiple peaks and higher precipitation levels, with Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency coefficient values surpassing 0.90. This study’s findings could hold significant reference value for dynamically updating model parameters, thereby enhancing the model simulation performance and improving the accuracy of the urban intelligent water management platform.

Parameters setting is an important problem of evolution algorithms, include differential evolution algorithm. It has an effect on the performance of evolution algorithms. Although there is only three control parameters in differential evolution (DE) algorithm, the parameters setting is also a difficult problem. Self-adaptation is highly beneficial for adjusting the control parameters, especially when done without any user interaction. This paper presents differential evolution algorithm, called (AdaptDE), which use self-adaptive mechanisms applied to the control parameters. It can get the optimal control parameters for different optimization problem without user interaction. Experimental results indicate that AdaptDE algorithm is efficient and feasible. It is superior to jDE algorithm and FADE algorithm on the quality of solution.

The capacitated arc routing problem (CARP) is a classical NP-Hard combinatorial optimization problem. In this paper, we present a memetic algorithm based on Extension step and Statistical filtering for Large-Scale CARP (ESMAENS) which has improvements in both the global search strategy and the local search strategy. Firstly, ESMAENS adopts the Route Distance Grouping decomposition scheme (RDG) to decompose the large-scale CARP into some independent sub-problems. Then, the initial population would evolve into a new group by using the Evolutionary Algorithm. Furthermore, ESMAENS introduces the extension step search strategy to search the potential solutions around the current solution. As a result, with the increase of the iteration number, it avoids getting to the premature convergence. Meanwhile, the diversity of the population can be increased. Finally, in the local search strategy, the statistical filter is used to filter out some solutions and make the algorithm get the lower bound at a faster convergence rate with a high stability. Compared with RDG-MAENS, experimental results on Beullen’C, D, E, F, egl and EGL-G test set show that ESMAENS has a better convergence rate, and the stability of solutions obtained is improved. Furthermore, ESMAENS achieves a global search for the solutions. Especially for the large-scale EGL-G test set, ESMAENS can converge to a lower bound at a faster convergence rate, and it is suitable for solving large-scale CARP.

The low frequency vibration of the vehicle in motion has a great influence on the ride comfort of occupants. The research on the vibration response characteristics of human body plays a great role in analyzing and improving ride comfort. The purpose of this study was to investigate the parameter identification of seated human body dynamic model. A seven-degree-of-freedom (DOF) lumped parameter model was established to describe the vibration response characteristics of human body. The derivation processes of apparent mass (AM) and seat to head transmissibility (STHT) were performed. After the theoretical calculation of the human body vibration characteristics, we used several different evolutionary algorithms to identify the 23 parameters of the model, including the mass, stiffness and damping parameters. By comparing the results of the five optimization algorithms and comprehensively analyzing the convergence and distribution of the non-dominated solution set, we found that the reference vector guided evolutionary algorithm (RVEA) shows good competitiveness in solving many-objective optimization problem (MaOP), that is, parameter identification of seated human body model in this paper. The AM and STHT calculated by model identification were compared with their measured by experiment. The result shows that the selected seven-DOF model can well describe the vertical vibration characteristics of seated human body and the identification method used in this paper can accurately identify the parameters of lumped parameter model, which provides convenience for the establishment of a complete “road-vehicle-seat-human body” system dynamic model.

A surrogate-assisted multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with dimension-reduction for production optimization

In recent years, Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm that is one of the most important delegate of the evolutionary algorithms have been successfully used for solving different optimization problems with its both serial and parallel variants. In this study, the performance of DE algorithm powered with cooperative emigrant creation strategy was investigated over the different types of numerical problems and obtained results were compared with the results of the serial DE and parallel DE algorithm supported with conventional emigrant creation strategy. Experimental studies showed that the convergence speed of the parallel DE algorithm is significantly improved with the cooperative emigrant creation strategy and the proposed parallel DE algorithm produces better results compared to the serial DE algorithm and parallel DE algorithm with the conventional emigrant creation strategy.