A New Multicommodity Flow Model for the Job Sequencing and Tool Switching Problem

Artigo científico.In this paper a new multicommodity flow mathematical model for the Job Sequencing and Tool Switching Problem (SSP) is presented. The proposed model has a LP relaxation lower bound equal to the number of tools minus the tool machine’s capacity. Computational tests were performed comparing the new model with the models of the literature. The proposed model performed better, both in execution time and in the number of instances solved to optimality.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

An efficient memetic, permutation-based evolutionary algorithm for real-world train timetabling

Train timetabling is a difficult and very tightly constrained combinatorial problem that deals with the construction of train schedules. We focus on the particular problem of local reconstruction of the schedule following a small perturbation, seeking minimisation of the total accumulated delay by adapting times of departure and arrival for each train and allocation of resources (tracks, routing nodes, etc.). We describe a permutation-based evolutionary algorithm that relies on a semi-greedy heuristic to gradually reconstruct the schedule by inserting trains one after the other following the permutation. This algorithm can be hybridised with ILOG commercial MIP programming tool CPLEX in a coarse-grained manner: the evolutionary part is used to quickly obtain a good but suboptimal solution and this intermediate solution is refined using CPLEX. Experimental results are presented on a large real-world case involving more than one million variables and 2 million constraints. Results are surprisingly good as the evolutionary algorithm, alone or hybridised, produces excellent solutions much faster than CPLEX alone

On the Benefits of Inoculation, an Example in Train Scheduling

The local reconstruction of a railway schedule following a small perturbation of the traffic, seeking minimization of the total accumulated delay, is a very difficult and tightly constrained combinatorial problem. Notoriously enough, the railway company's public image degrades proportionally to the amount of daily delays, and the same goes for its profit! This paper describes an inoculation procedure which greatly enhances an evolutionary algorithm for train re-scheduling. The procedure consists in building the initial population around a pre-computed solution based on problem-related information available beforehand. The optimization is performed by adapting times of departure and arrival, as well as allocation of tracks, for each train at each station. This is achieved by a permutation-based evolutionary algorithm that relies on a semi-greedy heuristic scheduler to gradually reconstruct the schedule by inserting trains one after another. Experimental results are presented on various instances of a large real-world case involving around 500 trains and more than 1 million constraints. In terms of competition with commercial math ematical programming tool ILOG CPLEX, it appears that within a large class of instances, excluding trivial instances as well as too difficult ones, and with very few exceptions, a clever initialization turns an encouraging failure into a clear-cut success auguring of substantial financial savings

VLSI Design

This book provides some recent advances in design nanometer VLSI chips. The selected topics try to present some open problems and challenges with important topics ranging from design tools, new post-silicon devices, GPU-based parallel computing, emerging 3D integration, and antenna design. The book consists of two parts, with chapters such as: VLSI design for multi-sensor smart systems on a chip, Three-dimensional integrated circuits design for thousand-core processors, Parallel symbolic analysis of large analog circuits on GPU platforms, Algorithms for CAD tools VLSI design, A multilevel memetic algorithm for large SAT-encoded problems, etc

Automated sequence-specific protein NMR assignment using the memetic algorithm MATCH

MATCH (Memetic Algorithm and Combinatorial Optimization Heuristics) is a new memetic algorithm for automated sequence-specific polypeptide backbone NMR assignment of proteins. MATCH employs local optimization for tracing partial sequence-specific assignments within a global, population-based search environment, where the simultaneous application of local and global optimization heuristics guarantees high efficiency and robustness. MATCH thus makes combined use of the two predominant concepts in use for automated NMR assignment of proteins. Dynamic transition and inherent mutation are new techniques that enable automatic adaptation to variable quality of the experimental input data. The concept of dynamic transition is incorporated in all major building blocks of the algorithm, where it enables switching between local and global optimization heuristics at any time during the assignment process. Inherent mutation restricts the intrinsically required randomness of the evolutionary algorithm to those regions of the conformation space that are compatible with the experimental input data. Using intact and artificially deteriorated APSY-NMR input data of proteins, MATCH performed sequence-specific resonance assignment with high efficiency and robustnes

Evolutionary Algorithms for Query Op-timization in Distributed Database Sys-tems: A review

Evolutionary Algorithms are bio-inspired optimization problem-solving approaches that exploit principles of biological evolution. , such as natural selection and genetic inheritance. This review paper provides the application of evolutionary and swarms intelligence based query optimization strategies in Distributed Database Systems. The query optimization in a distributed environment is challenging task and hard problem. However, Evolutionary approaches are promising for the optimization problems. The problem of query optimization in a distributed database environment is one of the complex problems. There are several techniques which exist and are being used for query optimization in a distributed database. The intention of this research is to focus on how bio-inspired computational algorithms are used in a distributed database environment for query optimization. This paper provides working of bio-inspired computational algorithms in distributed database query optimization which includes genetic algorithms, ant colony algorithm, particle swarm optimization and Memetic Algorithms

Novel bio-inspired memetic salp swarm algorithm and application to MPPT for PV systems considering partial shading condition

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd This paper proposes a novel bio-inspired optimization method named memetic salp swarm algorithm (MSSA). It is developed by extending the original salp swarm algorithm (SSA) with multiple independent salp chains, thus it can implement a wider exploration and a deeper exploitation under the memetic computing framework. In order to enhance the convergence stability, a virtual population based regroup operation is used for the global coordination between different salp chains. Due to partial shading condition (PSC) and fast time-varying weather conditions, photovoltaic (PV) systems may not be able to generate the global maximum power. Hence, MSSA is applied for an effective and efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of PV systems under PSC. To evaluate the MPPT performance of the proposed algorithm, four case studies are undertaken using Matlab/Simulink, e.g., start-up test, step change of solar irradiation, ramp change of solar irradiation and temperature, and field atmospheric data of Hong Kong. The obtained PV system responses are compared to that of eight existing MPPT algorithms, such as incremental conductance (INC), genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), artificial bees colony (ABC), cuckoo search algorithm (CSA), grey wolf optimizer (GWO), SSA, and teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO), respectively. Simulation results demonstrate that the output energy generated by MSSA in Spring in HongKong is 118.57%, 100.73%, 100.96%, 100.87%, 101.35%, 100.36%, 100.81%, and 100.22% to that of INC, GA, PSO, ABC, CSA, GWO, SSA, and TLBO, respectively. Lastly, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiment using dSpace platform is undertaken to further validate the implementation feasibility of MSSA