Combination of Evolutionary Algorithms with Experimental Design, Traditional Optimization and Machine Learning

Evolutionary algorithms alone cannot solve optimization problems very efficiently since there are many random (not very rational) decisions in these algorithms. Combination of evolutionary algorithms and other techniques have been proven to be an efficient optimization methodology. In this talk, I will explain the basic ideas of our three algorithms along this line (1): Orthogonal genetic algorithm which treats crossover/mutation as an experimental design problem, (2) Multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition (MOEA/D) which uses decomposition techniques from traditional mathematical programming in multiobjective optimization evolutionary algorithm, and (3) Regular model based multiobjective estimation of distribution algorithms (RM-MEDA) which uses the regular property and machine learning methods for improving multiobjective evolutionary algorithms

MOEA/D with Tabu Search for multiobjective permutation flow shop scheduling problems

Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm based on Decomposition (MOEA/D) decomposes a multiobjective optimisation problem into a number of single-objective problems and optimises them in a collaborative manner. This paper investigates how to use Tabu Search (TS), a well-studied single objective heuristic to enhance MOEA/D performance. In our proposed approach, the TS is applied to these subproblems with the aim to escape from local optimal solutions. The experimental studies have shown that MOEA/D with TS outperforms the classical MOEA/D on multiobjective permutation flow shop scheduling problems. It also have demonstrated that use of problem specific knowledge can significantly improve the algorithm performance

Biased Multiobjective Optimization and Decomposition Algorithm

The bias feature is a major factor that makes a multiobjective optimization problem (MOP) difficult for multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). To deal with this problem feature, an algorithm should carefully balance between exploration and exploitation. The decomposition-based MOEA decomposes an MOP into a number of single objective subproblems and solves them in a collaborative manner. Single objective optimizers can be easily used in this algorithm framework. Covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) has proven to be able to strike good balance between the exploration and the exploitation of search space. This paper proposes a scheme to use both differential evolution (DE) and covariance matrix adaptation in the MOEA based on decomposition. In this scheme, single objective optimization problems are clustered into several groups. To reduce the computational overhead, only one subproblem from each group is selected to optimize by CMA-ES while other subproblems are optimized by DE. When an evolution strategy procedure meets some stopping criteria, it will be reinitialized and used for solving another subproblem in the same group. A set of new multiobjective test problems with bias features are constructed in this paper. Extensive experimental studies show that our proposed algorithm is suitable for dealing with problems with biases