Evolutionary Computation 2020

Intelligent optimization is based on the mechanism of computational intelligence to refine a suitable feature model, design an effective optimization algorithm, and then to obtain an optimal or satisfactory solution to a complex problem. Intelligent algorithms are key tools to ensure global optimization quality, fast optimization efficiency and robust optimization performance. Intelligent optimization algorithms have been studied by many researchers, leading to improvements in the performance of algorithms such as the evolutionary algorithm, whale optimization algorithm, differential evolution algorithm, and particle swarm optimization. Studies in this arena have also resulted in breakthroughs in solving complex problems including the green shop scheduling problem, the severe nonlinear problem in one-dimensional geodesic electromagnetic inversion, error and bug finding problem in software, the 0-1 backpack problem, traveler problem, and logistics distribution center siting problem. The editors are confident that this book can open a new avenue for further improvement and discoveries in the area of intelligent algorithms. The book is a valuable resource for researchers interested in understanding the principles and design of intelligent algorithms

Políticas de Copyright de Publicações Científicas em Repositórios Institucionais: O Caso do INESC TEC

A progressiva transformação das práticas científicas, impulsionada pelo desenvolvimento das novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), têm possibilitado aumentar o acesso à informação, caminhando gradualmente para uma abertura do ciclo de pesquisa. Isto permitirá resolver a longo prazo uma adversidade que se tem colocado aos investigadores, que passa pela existência de barreiras que limitam as condições de acesso, sejam estas geográficas ou financeiras. Apesar da produção científica ser dominada, maioritariamente, por grandes editoras comerciais, estando sujeita às regras por estas impostas, o Movimento do Acesso Aberto cuja primeira declaração pública, a Declaração de Budapeste (BOAI), é de 2002, vem propor alterações significativas que beneficiam os autores e os leitores. Este Movimento vem a ganhar importância em Portugal desde 2003, com a constituição do primeiro repositório institucional a nível nacional. Os repositórios institucionais surgiram como uma ferramenta de divulgação da produção científica de uma instituição, com o intuito de permitir abrir aos resultados da investigação, quer antes da publicação e do próprio processo de arbitragem (preprint), quer depois (postprint), e, consequentemente, aumentar a visibilidade do trabalho desenvolvido por um investigador e a respetiva instituição. O estudo apresentado, que passou por uma análise das políticas de copyright das publicações científicas mais relevantes do INESC TEC, permitiu não só perceber que as editoras adotam cada vez mais políticas que possibilitam o auto-arquivo das publicações em repositórios institucionais, como também que existe todo um trabalho de sensibilização a percorrer, não só para os investigadores, como para a instituição e toda a sociedade. A produção de um conjunto de recomendações, que passam pela implementação de uma política institucional que incentive o auto-arquivo das publicações desenvolvidas no âmbito institucional no repositório, serve como mote para uma maior valorização da produção científica do INESC TEC.The progressive transformation of scientific practices, driven by the development of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which made it possible to increase access to information, gradually moving towards an opening of the research cycle. This opening makes it possible to resolve, in the long term, the adversity that has been placed on researchers, which involves the existence of barriers that limit access conditions, whether geographical or financial. Although large commercial publishers predominantly dominate scientific production and subject it to the rules imposed by them, the Open Access movement whose first public declaration, the Budapest Declaration (BOAI), was in 2002, proposes significant changes that benefit the authors and the readers. This Movement has gained importance in Portugal since 2003, with the constitution of the first institutional repository at the national level. Institutional repositories have emerged as a tool for disseminating the scientific production of an institution to open the results of the research, both before publication and the preprint process and postprint, increase the visibility of work done by an investigator and his or her institution. The present study, which underwent an analysis of the copyright policies of INESC TEC most relevant scientific publications, allowed not only to realize that publishers are increasingly adopting policies that make it possible to self-archive publications in institutional repositories, all the work of raising awareness, not only for researchers but also for the institution and the whole society. The production of a set of recommendations, which go through the implementation of an institutional policy that encourages the self-archiving of the publications developed in the institutional scope in the repository, serves as a motto for a greater appreciation of the scientific production of INESC TEC

Optimization Methods Applied to Power Systems Ⅱ

Electrical power systems are complex networks that include a set of electrical components that allow distributing the electricity generated in the conventional and renewable power plants to distribution systems so it can be received by final consumers (businesses and homes). In practice, power system management requires solving different design, operation, and control problems. Bearing in mind that computers are used to solve these complex optimization problems, this book includes some recent contributions to this field that cover a large variety of problems. More specifically, the book includes contributions about topics such as controllers for the frequency response of microgrids, post-contingency overflow analysis, line overloads after line and generation contingences, power quality disturbances, earthing system touch voltages, security-constrained optimal power flow, voltage regulation planning, intermittent generation in power systems, location of partial discharge source in gas-insulated switchgear, electric vehicle charging stations, optimal power flow with photovoltaic generation, hydroelectric plant location selection, cold-thermal-electric integrated energy systems, high-efficiency resonant devices for microwave power generation, security-constrained unit commitment, and economic dispatch problems

Artificial Intelligence Techniques Applied to the Remote-Controlled Aircraft Sector

Programa Oficial de Doutoramento en Tecnoloxías da Información e as Comunicacións. 5032V01[Resumen] El principal objetivo de esta Tesis Doctoral es estudiar el uso de técnicas para el control de enjambres heterogéneos de Aeronaves Pilotadas Remotamente (RPA o UAV, por sus siglas en inglés), coloquialmente conocidos como drones. Esta tesis está apoyada por tres publicaciones científicas indexadas en el sistema Journal Citation Report. Uno de ellos es el estudio de la aplicación de estas y otras técnicas en el ámbito de los enjambres de UAV. Los dos restantes proponen modelos para su aplicación en mapas simulados sin obstáculos y con obstáculos fijos. La importancia del estudio de estas técnicas para el control de enjambres de UAV demuestra que emplear un grupo heterogéneo de UAV con total libertad de movimiento permiten realizar las tareas de manera más rápida que empleando solo uno. Además, las técnicas de Aprendizaje por Refuerzo demuestran que son capaces de adaptarse a la situación del entorno y a sus obstáculos. El Aprendizaje por Refuerzo es un conjunto de técnicas de la Inteligencia Artificial que buscan resolver ciertos tipos de tareas basándose en la interacción con un entorno. Todo esto es realizado basándose en la recompensa o refuerzo que provoca realizar diferentes acciones en dicho entorno. Así, si una acción es la correcta, el refuerzo es positiva y, de ser incorrecta, el refuerzo es negativo. Al poder emplear un único sistema para el control de los UAV, se reduce la necesidad de tener un operador por cada aeronave, reduciendo los costes asociados a la operación. Para una mejora en la capacidad de estas técnicas, se han empleado Redes de Neuronas Artificiales por su capacidad de extraer conocimiento a partir de patrones. Así, se consigue mejorar la capacidad de adaptación de los modelos propuestos a los diferentes entornos en los que es probado.[Resumo] O principal obxectivo desta Tese Doctoral é estudar o uso de técnicas para o control de enxames heteroxéneos de Aeronaves Pilotadas Remotamente (RPA ou UAV, polas súas siglas en ingl´es) , coloquialmente co˜necidos como drons. Esta tese está apoiada por tres publicaciós científicas indexadas no sistema Journal Citation Report. Un deles é o estudo da aplicación destas e outras técnicas no ámbito dos enxames de UAV. Os dous restantes propo˜nen modelos para a súa aplicación en mapas simulados sen obstáculos e con obstáculos fixos. A importancia do estudo destas técnicas para o control de enxames de UAV demostra que empregar un grupo heteroxéneo de UAV con total liberdade de movemento permiten realizar as tarefas de maneira máis rápida que empregando só un. Ademais, as técnicas de Aprendizaxe por Reforzo demostran que son capaces de adaptarse á situaci ón da contorna e aos seus obstáculos. A Aprendizaxe por Reforzo é un conxunto de técnicas da Intelixencia Artificial que buscan resolver certos tipos de tarefas baseándose na interacción cunha contorna. Todo isto é realizado baseándose na recompensa ou reforzo que provoca realizar diferentes accións na devandito contorna. Así, se unha acci ón é a correcta, o reforzo é positiva e, de ser incorrecta, o reforzo é negativo. Ao poder empregar un único sistema para o control dos UAV, redúcese a necesidade de ter un operador por cada aeronave, reducindo os custos asociados á operación. Para unha mellora na capacidade destas técnicas, empregáronse Redes de Neuronas Artificiais pola súa capacidade de extraer co˜necemento a partir de patróns. Así, conséguese mellorar a capacidade de adaptación dos modelos propostos ás diferentes contornas nos que é probado.[Abstract] The main objective of this Doctoral Thesis is to study the use of the techniques for the control of heterogeneous swarms of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), colloquially known as drones. This thesis is supported by three scientific publications indexed in the Journal Citation Report system. One of them is the study of the application of these and other techniques in the field of UAV swarms. The remaining two propose models for their application in simulated maps without obstacles and with fixed obstacles. The importance of the study of these techniques for UAV swarm control demonstrates that using a heterogeneous group of UAVs with full freedom of movement allows tasks to be performed faster than using only one. In addition, Reinforcement Learning techniques prove that they are able to adapt to the environmental situation and its obstacles. Reinforcement Learning is a set of Artificial Intelligence techniques that seek to solve certain types of tasks based on interaction with an environment. All this is done based on the reward or reinforcement caused by performing different actions in that environment. Thus, if an action is correct, the reinforcement is positive and, if it is incorrect, the reinforcement is negative. By being able to use a single system to control UAVs, the need for one operator per aircraft is reduced, reducing the costs associated with the operation. To improve the capability of these techniques, Artificial Neural Networks have been used for their ability to extract knowledge from patterns. Thus, it is possible to improve the adaptability of the proposed models to the different environments in which they are tested

An Approach Based on Particle Swarm Optimization for Inspection of Spacecraft Hulls by a Swarm of Miniaturized Robots

The remoteness and hazards that are inherent to the operating environments of space infrastructures promote their need for automated robotic inspection. In particular, micrometeoroid and orbital debris impact and structural fatigue are common sources of damage to spacecraft hulls. Vibration sensing has been used to detect structural damage in spacecraft hulls as well as in structural health monitoring practices in industry by deploying static sensors. In this paper, we propose using a swarm of miniaturized vibration-sensing mobile robots realizing a network of mobile sensors. We present a distributed inspection algorithm based on the bio-inspired particle swarm optimization and evolutionary algorithm niching techniques to deliver the task of enumeration and localization of an a priori unknown number of vibration sources on a simplified 2.5D spacecraft surface. Our algorithm is deployed on a swarm of simulated cm-scale wheeled robots. These are guided in their inspection task by sensing vibrations arising from failure points on the surface which are detected by on-board accelerometers. We study three performance metrics: (1) proximity of the localized sources to the ground truth locations, (2) time to localize each source, and (3) time to finish the inspection task given a 75% inspection coverage threshold. We find that our swarm is able to successfully localize the present so

Efficiency and Sustainability of the Distributed Renewable Hybrid Power Systems Based on the Energy Internet, Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts

The climate changes that are visible today are a challenge for the global research community. In this context, renewable energy sources, fuel cell systems, and other energy generating sources must be optimally combined and connected to the grid system using advanced energy transaction methods. As this book presents the latest solutions in the implementation of fuel cell and renewable energy in mobile and stationary applications such as hybrid and microgrid power systems based on energy internet, blockchain technology, and smart contracts, we hope that they are of interest to readers working in the related fields mentioned above

ESSE 2017. Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical-, biological-, and information sciences to study and solve environmental problems. ESSE - The International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy provides a platform for experts, professionals, and researchers to share updated information and stimulate the communication with each other. In 2017 it was held in Suzhou, China June 23-25, 2017

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia