117,499 research outputs found
Fitness Proportionate Niching: Harnessing The Power Of Evolutionary Algorithms For Evolving Cooperative Populations And Dynamic Clustering
Evolutionary algorithms work on the notion of best fit will survive criteria. This makes evolving a cooperative and diverse population in a competing environment via evolutionary algorithms a challenging task. Analogies to species interactions in natural ecological systems have been used to develop methods for maintaining diversity in a population. One such area that mimics species interactions in natural systems is the use of niching. Niching methods extend the application of EAs to areas that seeks to embrace multiple solutions to a given problem. The conventional fitness sharing technique has limitations when the multimodal fitness landscape has unequal peaks. Higher peaks are strong population attractors. And this technique suffers from the curse of population size in attempting to discover all optimum points. The use of high population size makes the technique computationally complex, especially when there is a big jump in fitness values of the peaks. This work introduces a novel bio-inspired niching technique, termed Fitness Proportionate Niching (FPN), based on the analogy of finite resource model where individuals share the resource of a niche in proportion to their actual fitness. FPN makes the search algorithm unbiased to the variation in fitness values of the peaks and hence mitigates the drawbacks of conventional fitness sharing. FPN extends the global search ability of Genetic Algorithms (GAs) for evolving hierarchical cooperation in genetics-based machine learning and dynamic clustering. To this end, this work introduces FPN based resource sharing which leads to the formation of a viable default hierarchy in classifiers for the first time. It results in the co-evolution of default and exception rules, which lead to a robust and concise model description. The work also explores the feasibility and success of FPN for dynamic clustering. Unlike most other clustering techniques, FPN based clustering does not require any a priori information on the distribution of the data
Resource Sharing and Coevolution in Evolving Cellular Automata
Evolving one-dimensional cellular automata (CAs) with genetic algorithms has
provided insight into how improved performance on a task requiring global
coordination emerges when only local interactions are possible. Two approaches
that can affect the search efficiency of the genetic algorithm are coevolution,
in which a population of problems---in our case, initial configurations of the
CA lattice---evolves along with the population of CAs; and resource sharing, in
which a greater proportion of a limited fitness resource is assigned to those
CAs which correctly solve problems that fewer other CAs in the population can
solve. Here we present evidence that, in contrast to what has been suggested
elsewhere, the improvements observed when both techniques are used together
depend largely on resource sharing alone.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; http://www.santafe.edu/~evca/rsc.ps.g
Evolution of Swarm Robotics Systems with Novelty Search
Novelty search is a recent artificial evolution technique that challenges
traditional evolutionary approaches. In novelty search, solutions are rewarded
based on their novelty, rather than their quality with respect to a predefined
objective. The lack of a predefined objective precludes premature convergence
caused by a deceptive fitness function. In this paper, we apply novelty search
combined with NEAT to the evolution of neural controllers for homogeneous
swarms of robots. Our empirical study is conducted in simulation, and we use a
common swarm robotics task - aggregation, and a more challenging task - sharing
of an energy recharging station. Our results show that novelty search is
unaffected by deception, is notably effective in bootstrapping the evolution,
can find solutions with lower complexity than fitness-based evolution, and can
find a broad diversity of solutions for the same task. Even in non-deceptive
setups, novelty search achieves solution qualities similar to those obtained in
traditional fitness-based evolution. Our study also encompasses variants of
novelty search that work in concert with fitness-based evolution to combine the
exploratory character of novelty search with the exploitatory character of
objective-based evolution. We show that these variants can further improve the
performance of novelty search. Overall, our study shows that novelty search is
a promising alternative for the evolution of controllers for robotic swarms.Comment: To appear in Swarm Intelligence (2013), ANTS Special Issue. The final
publication will be available at link.springer.co
A bi-objective genetic algorithm approach to risk mitigation in project scheduling
A problem of risk mitigation in project scheduling is formulated as a bi-objective optimization problem, where the expected makespan and the expected total cost are both to be minimized. The expected total cost is the sum of four cost components: overhead cost, activity execution cost, cost of reducing risks and penalty cost for tardiness. Risks for activities are predefined. For each risk at an activity, various levels are defined, which correspond to the results of different preventive measures. Only those risks with a probable impact on the duration of the related activity are considered here. Impacts of risks are not only accounted for through the expected makespan but are also translated into cost and thus have an impact on the expected total cost. An MIP model and a heuristic solution approach based on genetic algorithms (GAs) is proposed. The experiments conducted indicate that GAs provide a fast and effective solution approach to the problem. For smaller problems, the results obtained by the GA are very good. For larger problems, there is room for improvement
Building dynamic capabilities through operations strategy: an empirical example
This paper suggests that the implementation of an effective operations strategy process is one of the necessary antecedents to the development of dynamic capabilities within an organisation and that once established, dynamic capabilities and operations strategy process settle into a symbiotic relationship. Key terms and a model of operations strategy process are proposed from literature as a framework for analysing data from a longitudinal case study with a UK based manufacturer of construction materials
Activity-Based Costing and Firm’s Value of Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria
This study focuses on Activity-Based Costing (ABC) and firm’s value. An ex-post facto research design was employed. Data were collected and statistically analysis using multiple regression. The results show that ABC effectiveness is significantly and positively related to firm’s value. The results show that ABC effectiveness is significantly and positively related to firm’s value. The result indicates that firms with greater degree of cost accountant competency, corporate resource facilitation, and price competitive force appear to have a higher effect on cost driver fitness, cost calculation accuracy, cost information creditability and cost reporting usefulness. The cost accountant competency, whose knowledge, skill, coordinate, knowledge sharing and competence, is very necessary in organization to ensure that cost accountants can do task in their responsibility completely and to achieve goals. Managers and executives of firms should apply the relationship among ABC effectiveness and firm’s value to the actual business situation. Managers should effectively utilize the resource and capability of the firm in order to ABC effectiveness. Clearly understanding of ABC effectiveness can help gain competitive advantages and achieve higher level of firm’s value. Importantly, to maximize the benefits of ABC effectiveness, they should provide resources such as cost accountant competency, resource facilitation to support in order to ABC effectiveness and to increase firms' competitive advantage and crucially to gain firm’s value. Keywords: Activity-Based Costing Effectiveness, Cost Calculation Accuracy, Cost Driver Fitness ,Cost Information Creditability, Cost Reporting Usefulness, Firm’s value
- …