scholarly journals Comparative Study of Knee-Based Algorithms for Many-Objective Optimization Problems

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Saad M. Alzahrani ◽  
Naruemon Wattanapongsakorn
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Benchmark Problems ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Knee Region ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Optimum Solution

Nowadays, most real-world optimization problems consist of many and often conflicting objectives to be optimized simultaneously. Although, many current Multi-Objective optimization algorithms can efficiently solve problems with 3 or less objectives, their performance deteriorates proportionally with the increasing of the objectives number. Furthermore, in many situations the decision maker (DM) is not interested in all trade-off solutions obtained but rather interested in a single optimum solution or a small set of those trade-offs. Therefore, determining an optimum solution or a small set of trade-off solutions is a difficult task. However, an interesting method for finding such solutions is identifying solutions in the Knee region. Solutions in the Knee region can be considered the best obtained solution in the obtained trade-off set especially if there is no preference or equally important objectives. In this paper, a pruning strategy was used to find solutions in the Knee region of Pareto optimal fronts for some benchmark problems obtained by NSGA-II, MOEA/D-DE and a promising new Multi-Objective optimization algorithm NSGA-III. Lastly, those knee solutions found were compared and evaluated using a generational distance performance metric, computation time and a statistical one-way ANOVA test.

Efficient Computation of Probabilistic Dominance in Multi-objective Optimization

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Faramarz Khosravi ◽  
Alexander Rass ◽  
Jürgen Teich
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Simultaneous Optimization ◽  
Sampled Data ◽  
Efficient Computation ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Comparison Operator

Real-world problems typically require the simultaneous optimization of multiple, often conflicting objectives. Many of these multi-objective optimization problems are characterized by wide ranges of uncertainties in their decision variables or objective functions. To cope with such uncertainties, stochastic and robust optimization techniques are widely studied aiming to distinguish candidate solutions with uncertain objectives specified by confidence intervals, probability distributions, sampled data, or uncertainty sets. In this scope, this article first introduces a novel empirical approach for the comparison of candidate solutions with uncertain objectives that can follow arbitrary distributions. The comparison is performed through accurate and efficient calculations of the probability that one solution dominates the other in terms of each uncertain objective. Second, such an operator can be flexibly used and combined with many existing multi-objective optimization frameworks and techniques by just substituting their standard comparison operator, thus easily enabling the Pareto front optimization of problems with multiple uncertain objectives. Third, a new benchmark for evaluating uncertainty-aware optimization techniques is introduced by incorporating different types of uncertainties into a well-known benchmark for multi-objective optimization problems. Fourth, the new comparison operator and benchmark suite are integrated into an existing multi-objective optimization framework that features a selection of multi-objective optimization problems and algorithms. Fifth, the efficiency in terms of performance and execution time of the proposed comparison operator is evaluated on the introduced uncertainty benchmark. Finally, statistical tests are applied giving evidence of the superiority of the new comparison operator in terms of \epsilon -dominance and attainment surfaces in comparison to previously proposed approaches.

A multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on niche selection in solving irregular Pareto fronts

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Xin Li ◽  
Xiaoli Li ◽  
Kang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Algorithm ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Benchmark Problems ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Environmental Selection ◽  
Optimal Solution Set ◽  
Pareto Fronts

The key characteristic of multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is that it can find a good approximate multi-objective optimal solution set when solving multi-objective optimization problems(MOPs). However, most multi-objective evolutionary algorithms perform well on regular multi-objective optimization problems, but their performance on irregular fronts deteriorates. In order to remedy this issue, this paper studies the existing algorithms and proposes a multi-objective evolutionary based on niche selection to deal with irregular Pareto fronts. In this paper, the crowding degree is calculated by the niche method in the process of selecting parents when the non-dominated solutions converge to the first front, which improves the the quality of offspring solutions and which is beneficial to local search. In addition, niche selection is adopted into the process of environmental selection through considering the number and the location of the individuals in its niche radius, which improve the diversity of population. Finally, experimental results on 23 benchmark problems including MaF and IMOP show that the proposed algorithm exhibits better performance than the compared MOEAs.

Dynamic Template Generation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Dynamic Test ◽  
Test Paper ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Life Problems ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Complex Optimization ◽  
Dynamic Template

A test blueprint/test template, also known as the table of specifications, represents the structure of a test. It has been highly recommended in assessment textbook to carry out the preparation of a test with a test blueprint. This chapter focuses on modeling a dynamic test paper template using multi-objective optimization algorithm and makes use of the template in dynamic generation of examination test paper. Multi-objective optimization-based models are realistic models for many complex optimization problems. Modeling a dynamic test paper template, similar to many real-life problems, includes solving multiple conflicting objectives satisfying the template specifications.

Multi-Objective Pricing Optimization for a High-Speed Rail Network Under Competition

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (7) ◽  
pp. 215-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huizhuo Cao ◽  
Xuemei Li ◽  
Vikrant Vaze ◽  
Xueyan Li
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Programming Model ◽  
Pareto Frontier ◽  
Multiple Objectives ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Single Objective

Multi-objective pricing of high-speed rail (HSR) passenger fares becomes a challenge when the HSR operator needs to deal with multiple conflicting objectives. Although many studies have tackled the challenge of calculating the optimal fares over railway networks, none of them focused on characterizing the trade-offs between multiple objectives under multi-modal competition. We formulate the multi-objective HSR fare optimization problem over a linear network by introducing the epsilon-constraint method within a bi-level programming model and develop an iterative algorithm to solve this model. This is the first HSR pricing study to use an epsilon-constraint methodology. We obtain two single-objective solutions and four multi-objective solutions and compare them on a variety of metrics. We also derive the Pareto frontier between the objectives of profit and passenger welfare to enable the operator to choose the best trade-off. Our results based on computational experiments with Beijing–Shanghai regional network provide several new insights. First, we find that small changes in fares can lead to a significant improvement in passenger welfare with no reduction in profitability under multi-objective optimization. Second, multi-objective optimization solutions show considerable improvements over the single-objective optimization solutions. Third, Pareto frontier enables decision-makers to make more informed decisions about choosing the best trade-offs. Overall, the explicit modeling of multiple objectives leads to better pricing solutions, which have the potential to guide pricing decisions for the HSR operators.

A Strength Pareto Gravitational Search Algorithm for Multi-Objective Optimization Problems

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (06) ◽  
pp. 1559010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Yuan ◽  
Zhihuan Chen ◽  
Yanbin Yuan ◽  
Yuehua Huang ◽  
Xiaopan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Search Algorithm ◽  
Gravitational Search Algorithm ◽  
Population Diversity ◽  
Benchmark Problems ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Local Optima ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Gravitational Search

A novel strength Pareto gravitational search algorithm (SPGSA) is proposed to solve multi-objective optimization problems. This SPGSA algorithm utilizes the strength Pareto concept to assign the fitness values for agents and uses a fine-grained elitism selection mechanism to keep the population diversity. Furthermore, the recombination operators are modeled in this approach to decrease the possibility of trapping in local optima. Experiments are conducted on a series of benchmark problems that are characterized by difficulties in local optimality, nonuniformity, and nonconvexity. The results show that the proposed SPGSA algorithm performs better in comparison with other related works. On the other hand, the effectiveness of two subtle means added to the GSA are verified, i.e. the fine-grained elitism selection and the use of SBX and PMO operators. Simulation results show that these measures not only improve the convergence ability of original GSA, but also preserve the population diversity adequately, which enables the SPGSA algorithm to have an excellent ability that keeps a desirable balance between the exploitation and exploration so as to accelerate the convergence speed to the true Pareto-optimal front.

scholarly journals A New Method for Dynamic Multi-Objective Optimization Based on Segment and Cloud Prediction

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Ni ◽  
Jiale Gao ◽  
Yafei Song ◽  
Wen Quan ◽  
Qinghua Xing
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Pareto Set ◽  
Benchmark Problems ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Optimal Solutions ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Good Convergence ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
The Law ◽  
Cloud Theory

In the real world, multi-objective optimization problems always change over time in most projects. Once the environment changes, the distribution of the optimal solutions would also be changed in decision space. Sometimes, such change may obey the law of symmetry, i.e., the minimum of the objective function in such environment is its maximum in another environment. In such cases, the optimal solutions keep unchanged or vibrate in a small range. However, in most cases, they do not obey the law of symmetry. In order to continue the search that maintains previous search advantages in the changed environment, some prediction strategy would be used to predict the operation position of the Pareto set. Because of this, the segment and multi-directional prediction is proposed in this paper, which consists of three mechanisms. First, by segmenting the optimal solutions set, the prediction about the changes in the distribution of the Pareto front can be ensured. Second, by introducing the cloud theory, the distance error of direction prediction can be offset effectively. Third, by using extra angle search, the angle error of prediction caused by the Pareto set nonlinear variation can also be offset effectively. Finally, eight benchmark problems were used to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm and compared algorithms. The results indicate that the algorithm proposed in this paper has good convergence and distribution, as well as a quick response ability to the changed environment.

scholarly journals Handling Constrained Multi-objective Optimization By Ignoring Constraints and Using Two Evolutionary Frameworks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Yi ◽  
Xiaowei Yang ◽  
Han Huang ◽  
Jiahai Wang
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Inequality Constraints ◽  
Simultaneous Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Real World Problem ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Two Stages

Constrained multi-objective optimization problems exist widely in real-world applications, and they involve a simultaneous optimization of multiple and often conflicting objectives subject to several equality and/or inequality constraints. To deal with these problems, a crucial issue is how to handle constraints effectively. This paper proposes a simple yet effective constrained decomposition-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. In the proposal, the evolutionary process is divided into two stages in which constraints are handled differently. In the first stage, constraints are totally ignored and the population is pulled toward the unconstrained Pareto-optimal front (PF) by optimizing objectives only. This can help the proposed algorithm handle well problems with the following features, i.e., the constrained PF has an intersection with the unconstrained counterpart, and there are infeasible regions blocking the way of convergence. In the second stage, with the purpose of approximating the constrained PF well,constraint satisfaction is emphasized over objective minimization.Moreover, different evolutionary frameworks are adopted in the two stages to promote the performance of the algorithm as much as possible. The proposed algorithm is comprehensively compared with several state-of-the-art algorithms on 39 problems (with 266 test instances in total), including one real-world problem (with 36 instances) in search-based software engineering. As shown by the experimental results, the new algorithm performs best on the majority of these problems, particularly on those with the aforementioned features. In summary, the suggested algorithm provides an effective way of handling constrained multi-objective optimization problems.

Collective intelligence approaches in interactive evolutionary multi-objective optimization

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Cinalli ◽  
Luis Martí ◽  
Nayat Sanchez-Pi ◽  
Ana Cristina Bicharra Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Collective Intelligence ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Pareto Optimal Set ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Life Problems ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Optimal Set

Abstract Evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithms (EMOAs) have been successfully applied in many real-life problems. EMOAs approximate the set of trade-offs between multiple conflicting objectives, known as the Pareto optimal set. Reference point approaches can alleviate the optimization process by highlighting relevant areas of the Pareto set and support the decision makers to take the more confident evaluation. One important drawback of this approaches is that they require an in-depth knowledge of the problem being solved in order to function correctly. Collective intelligence has been put forward as an alternative to deal with situations like these. This paper extends some well-known EMOAs to incorporate collective preferences and interactive techniques. Similarly, two new preference-based multi-objective optimization performance indicators are introduced in order to analyze the results produced by the proposed algorithms in the comparative experiments carried out.

scholarly journals The Pareto Tracer for General Inequality Constrained Multi-Objective Optimization Problems

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Fernanda Beltrán ◽  
Oliver Cuate ◽  
Oliver Schütze
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Continuation Method ◽  
Optimization Methods ◽  
New Method ◽  
Continuation Methods ◽  
Benchmark Problems ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Financial Applications ◽  
General Inequality ◽  
Multi Objective

Problems where several incommensurable objectives have to be optimized concurrently arise in many engineering and financial applications. Continuation methods for the treatment of such multi-objective optimization methods (MOPs) are very efficient if all objectives are continuous since in that case one can expect that the solution set forms at least locally a manifold. Recently, the Pareto Tracer (PT) has been proposed, which is such a multi-objective continuation method. While the method works reliably for MOPs with box and equality constraints, no strategy has been proposed yet to adequately treat general inequalities, which we address in this work. We formulate the extension of the PT and present numerical results on some selected benchmark problems. The results indicate that the new method can indeed handle general MOPs, which greatly enhances its applicability.

Evolutionary Large-Scale Multi-Objective Optimization: A Survey

2022 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Ye Tian ◽  
Langchun Si ◽  
Xingyi Zhang ◽  
Ran Cheng ◽  
Cheng He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Benchmark Problems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Decision Variable ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Space Reduction ◽  
Decision Variables ◽  
Comprehensive Survey

Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) have shown promising performance in solving various optimization problems, but their performance may deteriorate drastically when tackling problems containing a large number of decision variables. In recent years, much effort been devoted to addressing the challenges brought by large-scale multi-objective optimization problems. This article presents a comprehensive survey of stat-of-the-art MOEAs for solving large-scale multi-objective optimization problems. We start with a categorization of these MOEAs into decision variable grouping based, decision space reduction based, and novel search strategy based MOEAs, discussing their strengths and weaknesses. Then, we review the benchmark problems for performance assessment and a few important and emerging applications of MOEAs for large-scale multi-objective optimization. Last, we discuss some remaining challenges and future research directions of evolutionary large-scale multi-objective optimization.

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