Ant colony optimisation and local search for bin-packing and cutting stock problems

The Bin Packing Problem and the Cutting Stock Problem are two related classes of NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems. Exact solution methods can only be used for very small instances, so for real-world problems, we have to rely on heuristic methods. In recent years, researchers have started to apply evolutionary approaches to these problems, including Genetic Algorithms and Evolutionary Programming. In the work presented here, we used an ant colony optimization (ACO) approach to solve both Bin Packing and Cutting Stock Problems. We present a pure ACO approach, as well as an ACO approach augmented with a simple but very effective local search algorithm. It is shown that the pure ACO approach can compete with existing evolutionary methods, whereas the hybrid approach can outperform the best-known hybrid evolutionary solution methods for certain problem classes. The hybrid ACO approach is also shown to require different parameter values from the pure ACO approach and to give a more robust performance across different problems with a single set of parameter values. The local search algorithm is also run with random restarts and shown to perform significantly worse than when combined with ACO

A lagrangian relaxation-based heuristic to solve large extended graph partitioning problems

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016. The paper is concerned with the planning of training sessions in large organisations requiring periodic retraining of their staff. The allocation of students must take into account student preferences as well as the desired composition of study groups. The paper presents a bicriteria Quadratic Multiple Knapsack formulation of the considered practical problem, and a novel solution procedure based on Lagrangian relaxation. The paper presents the results of computational experiments aimed at testing the optimisation procedure on real world data originating from Australia’s largest electricity distributor. Results are compared and validated against a Genetic Algorithm based matheuristic

Combinatorial optimization and metaheuristics

Today, combinatorial optimization is one of the youngest and most active areas of discrete mathematics. It is a branch of optimization in applied mathematics and computer science, related to operational research, algorithm theory and computational complexity theory. It sits at the intersection of several fields, including artificial intelligence, mathematics and software engineering. Its increasing interest arises for the fact that a large number of scientific and industrial problems can be formulated as abstract combinatorial optimization problems, through graphs and/or (integer) linear programs. Some of these problems have polynomial-time (“efficient”) algorithms, while most of them are NP-hard, i.e. it is not proved that they can be solved in polynomial-time. Mainly, it means that it is not possible to guarantee that an exact solution to the problem can be found and one has to settle for an approximate solution with known performance guarantees. Indeed, the goal of approximate methods is to find “quickly” (reasonable run-times), with “high” probability, provable “good” solutions (low error from the real optimal solution). In the last 20 years, a new kind of algorithm commonly called metaheuristics have emerged in this class, which basically try to combine heuristics in high level frameworks aimed at efficiently and effectively exploring the search space. This report briefly outlines the components, concepts, advantages and disadvantages of different metaheuristic approaches from a conceptual point of view, in order to analyze their similarities and differences. The two very significant forces of intensification and diversification, that mainly determine the behavior of a metaheuristic, will be pointed out. The report concludes by exploring the importance of hybridization and integration methods

Solving the two dimensional cutting problem using evolutionary algorithms with penalty functions

In this work a solution using evolutionary algorithms with penalty function for the non-guillotine cutting problem is presented. In this particular problem, the rectangular pieces have to be cut from an unique large object, being the goal to maximize the total value of cut pieces. Some chromosomes can hold pieces to be cut, but some pieces cannot be arranged into the object, generating infeasible solutions. A way to deal with this kind of solutions is to use a penalizing strategy. The used penalty functions have been originally developed for the knapsack problem and they are adapted for the cutting problem in this paper. Moreover, the effect on the algorithm performance to combine penalty functions with two different selection methods (binary tournament and roulette wheel) is studied. The algorithm uses a binary representation, one-point crossover, big-creep mutation and in order to evaluated the quality of solutions a placement routine is considered (Heuristic with Efficient Management of Holes). Experimental comparisons of the performance of the resulting algorithms are carried out using publicly available benchmarks to the non-guillotine cutting problem. We report on the high performance of the proposed models at similar (or better) accuracy with respect to existing algorithms.VI Workshop de Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes (WASI)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Analysis of objectives relationships in multiobjective problems using trade-off region maps

Understanding the relationships between objectives in many-objective optimisation problems is desirable in order to develop more effective algorithms. We propose a techniquefor the analysis and visualisation of complex relationships between many (three or more) objectives. This technique looks at conflicting, harmonious and independent objectives relationships from different perspectives. To do that, it uses correlation, trade-off regions maps and scatter-plots in a four step approach. We apply the proposed technique to a set of instances of the well-known multiobjective multidimensional knapsack problem. The experimental results show that with the proposed technique we can identify local and complex relationships between objectives, trade-offs not derived from pairwise relationships, gaps in the fitness landscape, and regions of interest. Such information can be used to tailor the development of algorithms

Analysis of objectives relationships in multiobjective problems using trade-off region maps

Understanding the relationships between objectives in many-objective optimisation problems is desirable in order to develop more effective algorithms. We propose a techniquefor the analysis and visualisation of complex relationships between many (three or more) objectives. This technique looks at conflicting, harmonious and independent objectives relationships from different perspectives. To do that, it uses correlation, trade-off regions maps and scatter-plots in a four step approach. We apply the proposed technique to a set of instances of the well-known multiobjective multidimensional knapsack problem. The experimental results show that with the proposed technique we can identify local and complex relationships between objectives, trade-offs not derived from pairwise relationships, gaps in the fitness landscape, and regions of interest. Such information can be used to tailor the development of algorithms