Triangular Gaussian mutation to differential evolution

Differential evolution (DE) has been a popular algorithm for its simple structure and few control parameters. However, there are some open issues in DE regrading its mutation strategies. An interesting one is how to balance the exploration and exploitation behaviour when performing mutation, and this has attracted a growing number of research interests over a decade. To address this issue, this paper presents a triangular Gaussian mutation strategy. This strategy utilizes the physical positions and the fitness differences of the vertices in the triangular structure. Based on this strategy, a triangular Gaussian mutation to DE and its improved version (ITGDE) are suggested. Empirical studies are carried out on the 20 benchmark functions and show that, in comparison with several state-of-the-art DE variants, ITGDE obtains significantly better or at least comparable results, suggesting the proposed mutation strategy is promising for DE

Potato Planter and Planting Technology: A Review of Recent Developments

Potato is one of the most important food crops in the world, which is of great significance for sustainable agricultural development. Mechanized planting is the essential technical link in mechanized production, which has an essential component in the potato growing industry. The mechanization of potato planting technology is an effective method of increasing potato yields. A variety of potato planting technologies and machines have been developed around the world. This review presents the research progress and application status of potato planters and planting technology worldwide. It classifies the planting technology into four types: research of materials characteristics for potatoes, soil cultivation, seed potato separation, and zero-speed seeding. The most critical seed potato separation technology was divided into six types according to the structure of the seed metering device. Detailed features have been provided for some typical potato planters and soil cultivation machines. Finally, the developing trend of intelligent planting technology was analyzed, and some suggestions were proposed to promote the development of potato planters