Analysis of no-wait flow shop scheduling problems and solving with hybrid scatter search method

Beklemesiz Akış Tipi Çizelgeleme (BATÇ), pratik uygulamalarından dolayı kapsamlı bir araştırma alanıdır. BATÇ problemlerinde işler, makinelerde kesintisiz olarak işlem görmek zorundadır. Bir işin tüm makinelerde işlenme süresi boyunca, makineler bekleyebilir fakat işler kesintisiz olarak işlenmelidir. Amaç ise makinelerin boşta bekleme süresini en aza indirmektir. BATÇ problemlerinin çoğunluğunda toplam gecikmenin ve maksimum tamamlanma zamanının minimizasyonu olmak üzere, iki performans ölçüsü göz önünde bulundurulur. Literatürde, son yirmi beş yılda BATÇ ile ilgili yapılan çalışmalar analiz edilmiştir. BATÇ problemlerinin çözümü ile ilgili geliştirilen kesin ve yaklaşık çözüm veren yöntemler incelenmiştir. Literatürde 1 ve 2 makineli problemler için optimum çözüm veren matematiksel yöntemler bulunurken, 3 ve daha fazla makineli problemler için standart zamanda optimum çözüm veren bir yöntem bulunmamaktadır. Kabul edilebilir bir süre içerisinde m makine içeren problemlere optimum ya da optimuma yakın çözümler üretebilmek için sezgisel ve meta sezgisel yöntemler geliştirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, BATÇ problemlerinin çözümü için Hibrit Dağınık Arama (HDA) yöntemi önerilmiştir. Önerilen yöntem, literatürde iyi bilinen kıyaslama problemleri yardımı ile test edilmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlar, Hibrit Uyarlanabilir Öğrenme Yaklaşım (HUÖY) algoritması ve Hibrit Karınca Kolonileri Optimizasyon (HKKO) algoritması ile kıyaslanmıştır. Amaç fonksiyonu olarak maksimum tamamlanma zamanının minimizasyonu seçilmiştir. Elde edilen çözüm sonuçları, önerilen HDA yönteminin BATÇ problemlerinin çözümünde etkili olduğunu göstermiştir.No-wait flow shop (NWFS) is extensively research area due to its practical applications. In NWFS, jobs are processed in machines without interruption. During the schedule period, machines can wait, but jobs cannot wait. The aim is to minimize the idle time for machines. The majority of NWFS, two performance measures are consid-ered: minimization of total delay and minimization of the makespan. The researches on the NWFS in the last twenty-five years have been analysed from the literature. The methods developed for the solution of the NWFS, which give exact and approximate solutions, have been examined. While there are mathematical methods that give optimum solutions for 1 and 2 machine problems in the literature, there is no method that provides optimum solutions in standard time for problems with 3 or more machines. The difference methods are developed in order to produce optimum or near-optimum solutions to m-machine problems in an acceptable time. A Hybrid Scatter Search Method (HSSM) is proposed for solving the NWFS. The developed HSSM tested with the well-known benchmarking instances in the literature. The results obtained were compared with the Hybrid Adaptive Learning Approach algorithm and the Hybrid Ant Colonies Optimization algorithm. The objective function is makespan minimization. According to solutions, the proposed HSSM is an effective metaheuristic to solve NWFS

Energy-aware task scheduling on heterogeneous computing systems with time constraint

As a technique to help achieve high performance in parallel and distributed heterogeneous computing systems, task scheduling has attracted considerable interest. In this paper, we propose an effective Cuckoo Search algorithm based on Gaussian random walk and Adaptive discovery probability which combined with a cost-to-time ratio Modification strategy (GACSM), to address task scheduling on heterogeneous multiprocessor systems using Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS). First, to overcome the shortcomings of poor performance in exploitation of the cuckoo search algorithm, we use chaos variables to initialize populations to maintain the population diversity, a Gaussian random walk strategy to balance the exploration and exploitation capabilities of the algorithm, and an adaptive discovery probability strategy to improve population diversity. Then, we apply the improved Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithm to assign tasks to resources, and a widely used downward rank heuristic strategy to find the corresponding scheduling sequence. Finally, we apply a cost-to-time ratio improvement strategy to further improve the performance of the improved CS algorithm. Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of our method. The results validate our approach and show its superiority in comparison with the state-of-the-art methods.Zexi Deng, Zihan Yan, Huimin Huang, Hong Shen ... et al

A parameter tuned hybrid algorithm for solving flow shop scheduling problems with parallel assembly stages

In this paper, we study the scheduling problem for a customized production system consisting of a flow shop production line with a parallel assembly stage that produces various products in two stages. In the first stage of the production line, parts are produced using a flow shop production line, and in the second stage, products are assembled on one of the parallel assembly lines. The objective is to minimize the time required to complete all goods (makespan) using efficient scheduling. A mathematical model is developed; however, the model is NP-hard and cannot be solved in a reasonable amount of time. To solve this NP-hard problem, we propose two well-known metaheuristics and a hybrid algorithm. To calibrate and improve the performance of our algorithms, we employ the Taguchi method. We evaluate the performance of our hybrid algorithm with the two well-known methods of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and demonstrate that our hybrid algorithm outperforms both the GA and PSO approaches in terms of efficiency

Comprehensive Taxonomies of Nature- and Bio-inspired Optimization: Inspiration versus Algorithmic Behavior, Critical Analysis and Recommendations

In recent years, a great variety of nature- and bio-inspired algorithms has been reported in the literature. This algorithmic family simulates different biological processes observed in Nature in order to efficiently address complex optimization problems. In the last years the number of bio-inspired optimization approaches in literature has grown considerably, reaching unprecedented levels that dark the future prospects of this field of research. This paper addresses this problem by proposing two comprehensive, principle-based taxonomies that allow researchers to organize existing and future algorithmic developments into well-defined categories, considering two different criteria: the source of inspiration and the behavior of each algorithm. Using these taxonomies we review more than three hundred publications dealing with nature-inspired and bio-inspired algorithms, and proposals falling within each of these categories are examined, leading to a critical summary of design trends and similarities between them, and the identification of the most similar classical algorithm for each reviewed paper. From our analysis we conclude that a poor relationship is often found between the natural inspiration of an algorithm and its behavior. Furthermore, similarities in terms of behavior between different algorithms are greater than what is claimed in their public disclosure: specifically, we show that more than one-third of the reviewed bio-inspired solvers are versions of classical algorithms. Grounded on the conclusions of our critical analysis, we give several recommendations and points of improvement for better methodological practices in this active and growing research field.Comment: 76 pages, 6 figure

A multi objective volleyball premier league algorithm for green scheduling identical parallel machines with splitting jobs

Parallel machine scheduling is one of the most common studied problems in recent years, however, this classic optimization problem has to achieve two conflicting objectives, i.e. minimizing the total tardiness and minimizing the total wastes, if the scheduling is done in the context of plastic injection industry where jobs are splitting and molds are important constraints. This paper proposes a mathematical model for scheduling parallel machines with splitting jobs and resource constraints. Two minimization objectives - the total tardiness and the number of waste - are considered, simultaneously. The obtained model is a bi-objective integer linear programming model that is shown to be of NP-hard class optimization problems. In this paper, a novel Multi-Objective Volleyball Premier League (MOVPL) algorithm is presented for solving the aforementioned problem. This algorithm uses the crowding distance concept used in NSGA-II as an extension of the Volleyball Premier League (VPL) that we recently introduced. Furthermore, the results are compared with six multi-objective metaheuristic algorithms of MOPSO, NSGA-II, MOGWO, MOALO, MOEA/D, and SPEA2. Using five standard metrics and ten test problems, the performance of the Pareto-based algorithms was investigated. The results demonstrate that in general, the proposed algorithm has supremacy than the other four algorithms

Wind turbine blade geometry design based on multi-objective optimization using metaheuristics

Abstract: The application of Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) to wind turbine blade design can be interesting, by reducing the number of aerodynamic-to-structural design loops in the conventional design process, hence reducing the design time and cost. Recent developments showed satisfactory results with this approach, mostly combining Genetic Algorithms (GAs) with the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory. The general objective of the present work is to define and evaluate a design methodology for the rotor blade geometry in order to maximize the energy production of wind turbines and minimize the mass of the blade itself, using for that purpose stochastic multi-objective optimization methods. Therefore, the multi-objective optimization problem and its constraints were formulated, and the vector representation of the optimization parameters was defined. An optimization benchmark problem was proposed, which represents the wind conditions and present wind turbine concepts found in Brazil. This problem was used as a test-bed for the performance comparison of several metaheuristics, and also for the validation of the defined design methodology. A variable speed pitch-controlled 2.5 MW Direct-Drive Synchronous Generator (DDSG) turbine with a rotor diameter of 120 m was chosen as concept. Five different Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) were selected for evaluation in solving this benchmark problem: Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm version II (NSGA-II), Quantum-inspired Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm (QMEA), two approaches of the Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Decomposition (MOEA/D), and Multi-objective Optimization Differential Evolution Algorithm (MODE). The results have shown that the two best performing techniques in this type of problem are NSGA-II and MOEA/D, one having more spread and evenly spaced solutions, and the other having a better convergence in the region of interest. QMEA was the worst MOEA in convergence and MODE the worst one in solutions distribution. But the differences in overall performance were slight, because the algorithms have alternated their positions in the evaluation rank of each metric. This was also evident by the fact that the known Pareto Front (PF) consisted of solutions from several techniques, with each dominating a different region of the objective space. Detailed analysis of the best blade design showed that the output of the design methodology is feasible in practice, given that flow conditions and operational features of the rotor were as desired, and also that the blade geometry is very smooth and easy to manufacture. Moreover, this geometry is easily exported to a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) or Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) software. In this way, the design methodology defined by the present work was validated

OptPlatform: metaheuristic optimisation framework for solving complex real-world problems

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonWe optimise daily, whether that is planning a round trip that visits the most attractions within a given holiday budget or just taking a train instead of driving a car in a rush hour. Many problems, just like these, are solved by individuals as part of our daily schedule, and they are effortless and straightforward. If we now scale that to many individuals with many different schedules, like a school timetable, we get to a point where it is just not feasible or practical to solve by hand. In such instances, optimisation methods are used to obtain an optimal solution. In this thesis, a practical approach to optimisation has been taken by developing an optimisation platform with all the necessary tools to be used by practitioners who are not necessarily familiar with the subject of optimisation. First, a high-performance metaheuristic optimisation framework (MOF) called OptPlatform is implemented, and the versatility and performance are evaluated across multiple benchmarks and real-world optimisation problems. Results show that, compared to competing MOFs, the OptPlatform outperforms in both the solution quality and computation time. Second, the most suitable hardware platform for OptPlatform is determined by an in-depth analysis of Ant Colony Optimisation scaling across CPU, GPU and enterprise Xeon Phi. Contrary to the common benchmark problems used in the literature, the supply chain problem solved could not scale on GPUs. Third, a variety of metaheuristics are implemented into OptPlatform. Including, a new metaheuristic based on Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA), called ICA with Independence and Constrained Assimilation (ICAwICA) is proposed. The ICAwICA was compared against two different types of benchmark problems, and results show the versatile application of the algorithm, matching and in some cases outperforming the custom-tuned approaches. Finally, essential MOF features like automatic algorithm selection and tuning, lacking on existing frameworks, are implemented in OptPlatform. Two novel approaches are proposed and compared to existing methods. Results indicate the superiority of the implemented tuning algorithms within constrained tuning budget environment

A multi objective volleyball premier league algorithm for green scheduling identical parallel machines with splitting jobs

Parallel machine scheduling is one of the most common studied problems in recent years, however, this classic optimization problem has to achieve two conflicting objectives, i.e. minimizing the total tardiness and minimizing the total wastes, if the scheduling is done in the context of plastic injection industry where jobs are splitting and molds are important constraints. This paper proposes a mathematical model for scheduling parallel machines with splitting jobs and resource constraints. Two minimization objectives - the total tardiness and the number of waste - are considered, simultaneously. The obtained model is a bi-objective integer linear programming model that is shown to be of NP-hard class optimization problems. In this paper, a novel Multi-Objective Volleyball Premier League (MOVPL) algorithm is presented for solving the aforementioned problem. This algorithm uses the crowding distance concept used in NSGA-II as an extension of the Volleyball Premier League (VPL) that we recently introduced. Furthermore, the results are compared with six multi-objective metaheuristic algorithms of MOPSO, NSGA-II, MOGWO, MOALO, MOEA/D, and SPEA2. Using five standard metrics and ten test problems, the performance of the Pareto-based algorithms was investigated. The results demonstrate that in general, the proposed algorithm has supremacy than the other four algorithms

Optimization for Decision Making II

In the current context of the electronic governance of society, both administrations and citizens are demanding the greater participation of all the actors involved in the decision-making process relative to the governance of society. This book presents collective works published in the recent Special Issue (SI) entitled “Optimization for Decision Making II”. These works give an appropriate response to the new challenges raised, the decision-making process can be done by applying different methods and tools, as well as using different objectives. In real-life problems, the formulation of decision-making problems and the application of optimization techniques to support decisions are particularly complex and a wide range of optimization techniques and methodologies are used to minimize risks, improve quality in making decisions or, in general, to solve problems. In addition, a sensitivity or robustness analysis should be done to validate/analyze the influence of uncertainty regarding decision-making. This book brings together a collection of inter-/multi-disciplinary works applied to the optimization of decision making in a coherent manner