Particle Swarm Optimization: Basic Concepts, Variants and Applications in Power Systems

Many areas in power systems require solving one or more nonlinear optimization problems. While analytical methods might suffer from slow convergence and the curse of dimensionality, heuristics-based swarm intelligence can be an efficient alternative. Particle swarm optimization (PSO), part of the swarm intelligence family, is known to effectively solve large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. This paper presents a detailed overview of the basic concepts of PSO and its variants. Also, it provides a comprehensive survey on the power system applications that have benefited from the powerful nature of PSO as an optimization technique. For each application, technical details that are required for applying PSO, such as its type, particle formulation (solution representation), and the most efficient fitness functions are also discussed

Enhanced Harris's Hawk algorithm for continuous multi-objective optimization problems

Multi-objective swarm intelligence-based (MOSI-based) metaheuristics were proposed to solve multi-objective optimization problems (MOPs) with conflicting objectives. Harris’s hawk multi-objective optimizer (HHMO) algorithm is a MOSIbased algorithm that was developed based on the reference point approach. The reference point is determined by the decision maker to guide the search process to a particular region in the true Pareto front. However, HHMO algorithm produces a poor approximation to the Pareto front because lack of information sharing in its population update strategy, equal division of convergence parameter and randomly generated initial population. A two-step enhanced non-dominated sorting HHMO (2SENDSHHMO) algorithm has been proposed to solve this problem. The algorithm includes (i) a population update strategy which improves the movement of hawks in the search space, (ii) a parameter adjusting strategy to control the transition between exploration and exploitation, and (iii) a population generating method in producing the initial candidate solutions. The population update strategy calculates a new position of hawks based on the flush-and-ambush technique of Harris’s hawks, and selects the best hawks based on the non-dominated sorting approach. The adjustment strategy enables the parameter to adaptively changed based on the state of the search space. The initial population is produced by generating quasi-random numbers using Rsequence followed by adapting the partial opposition-based learning concept to improve the diversity of the worst half in the population of hawks. The performance of the 2S-ENDSHHMO has been evaluated using 12 MOPs and three engineering MOPs. The obtained results were compared with the results of eight state-of-the-art multi-objective optimization algorithms. The 2S-ENDSHHMO algorithm was able to generate non-dominated solutions with greater convergence and diversity in solving most MOPs and showed a great ability in jumping out of local optima. This indicates the capability of the algorithm in exploring the search space. The 2S-ENDSHHMO algorithm can be used to improve the search process of other MOSI-based algorithms and can be applied to solve MOPs in applications such as structural design and signal processing

Recent trends of the most used metaheuristic techniques for distribution network reconfiguration

Distribution network reconfiguration (DNR) continues to be a good option to reduce technical losses in a distribution power grid. However, this non-linear combinatorial problem is not easy to assess by exact methods when solving for large distribution networks, which requires large computational times. For solving this type of problem, some researchers prefer to use metaheuristic techniques due to convergence speed, near-optimal solutions, and simple programming. Some literature reviews specialize in topics concerning the optimization of power network reconfiguration and try to cover most techniques. Nevertheless, this does not allow detailing properly the use of each technique, which is important to identify the trend. The contributions of this paper are three-fold. First, it presents the objective functions and constraints used in DNR with the most used metaheuristics. Second, it reviews the most important techniques such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), simulated annealing (SA), ant colony optimization (ACO), immune algorithms (IA), and tabu search (TS). Finally, this paper presents the trend of each technique from 2011 to 2016. This paper will be useful for researchers interested in knowing the advances of recent approaches in these metaheuristics applied to DNR in order to continue developing new best algorithms and improving solutions for the topi

Advanced Signal Processing Techniques Applied to Power Systems Control and Analysis

The work published in this book is related to the application of advanced signal processing in smart grids, including power quality, data management, stability and economic management in presence of renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles. The distinct architecture of smart grids has prompted investigations into the use of advanced algorithms combined with signal processing methods to provide optimal results. The presented applications are focused on data management with cloud computing, power quality assessment, photovoltaic power plant control, and electrical vehicle charge stations, all supported by modern AI-based optimization methods

A review of task allocation methods for UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicles, can offer solutions to a lot of problems, making it crucial to research more and improve the task allocation methods used. In this survey, the main approaches used for task allocation in applications involving UAVs are presented as well as the most common applications of UAVs that require the application of task allocation methods. They are followed by the categories of the task allocation algorithms used, with the main focus being on more recent works. Our analysis of these methods focuses primarily on their complexity, optimality, and scalability. Additionally, the communication schemes commonly utilized are presented, as well as the impact of uncertainty on task allocation of UAVs. Finally, these methods are compared based on the aforementioned criteria, suggesting the most promising approaches

Applied Metaheuristic Computing

For decades, Applied Metaheuristic Computing (AMC) has been a prevailing optimization technique for tackling perplexing engineering and business problems, such as scheduling, routing, ordering, bin packing, assignment, facility layout planning, among others. This is partly because the classic exact methods are constrained with prior assumptions, and partly due to the heuristics being problem-dependent and lacking generalization. AMC, on the contrary, guides the course of low-level heuristics to search beyond the local optimality, which impairs the capability of traditional computation methods. This topic series has collected quality papers proposing cutting-edge methodology and innovative applications which drive the advances of AMC

Adaptive bio-inspired firefly and invasive weed algorithms for global optimisation with application to engineering problems

The focus of the research is to investigate and develop enhanced version of swarm intelligence firefly algorithm and ecology-based invasive weed algorithm to solve global optimisation problems and apply to practical engineering problems. The work presents two adaptive variants of firefly algorithm by introducing spread factor mechanism that exploits the fitness intensity during the search process. The spread factor mechanism is proposed to enhance the adaptive parameter terms of the firefly algorithm. The adaptive algorithms are formulated to avoid premature convergence and better optimum solution value. Two new adaptive variants of invasive weed algorithm are also developed seed spread factor mechanism introduced in the dispersal process of the algorithm. The working principles and structure of the adaptive firefly and invasive weed algorithms are described and discussed. Hybrid invasive weed-firefly algorithm and hybrid invasive weed-firefly algorithm with spread factor mechanism are also proposed. The new hybridization algorithms are developed by retaining their individual advantages to help overcome the shortcomings of the original algorithms. The performances of the proposed algorithms are investigated and assessed in single-objective, constrained and multi-objective optimisation problems. Well known benchmark functions as well as current CEC 2006 and CEC 2014 test functions are used in this research. A selection of performance measurement tools is also used to evaluate performances of the algorithms. The algorithms are further tested with practical engineering design problems and in modelling and control of dynamic systems. The systems considered comprise a twin rotor system, a single-link flexible manipulator system and assistive exoskeletons for upper and lower extremities. The performance results are evaluated in comparison to the original firefly and invasive weed algorithms. It is demonstrated that the proposed approaches are superior over the individual algorithms in terms of efficiency, convergence speed and quality of the optimal solution achieved