Toward the Use of Pareto Performance Solutions and Pareto Robustness Solutions for Multi-Objective Robust Optimization Problems

Author(s):  
Weijun Wang ◽  
Stéphane Caro ◽  
Fouad Bennis ◽  
Oscar Brito Augusto

For Multi-Objective Robust Optimization Problem (MOROP), it is important to obtain design solutions that are both optimal and robust. To find these solutions, usually, the designer need to set a threshold of the variation of Performance Functions (PFs) before optimization, or add the effects of uncertainties on the original PFs to generate a new Pareto robust front. In this paper, we divide a MOROP into two Multi-Objective Optimization Problems (MOOPs). One is the original MOOP, another one is that we take the Robustness Functions (RFs), robust counterparts of the original PFs, as optimization objectives. After solving these two MOOPs separately, two sets of solutions come out, namely the Pareto Performance Solutions (PP) and the Pareto Robustness Solutions (PR). Make a further development on these two sets, we can get two types of solutions, namely the Pareto Robustness Solutions among the Pareto Performance Solutions (PR(PP)), and the Pareto Performance Solutions among the Pareto Robustness Solutions (PP(PR)). Further more, the intersection of PR(PP) and PP(PR) can represent the intersection of PR and PP well. Then the designer can choose good solutions by comparing the results of PR(PP) and PP(PR). Thanks to this method, we can find out the optimal and robust solutions without setting the threshold of the variation of PFs nor losing the initial Pareto front. Finally, an illustrative example highlights the contributions of the paper.

Author(s):  
Tingting Xia ◽  
Mian Li

Abstract Multi-objective optimization problems (MOOPs) with uncertainties are common in engineering design. To find robust Pareto fronts, multi-objective robust optimization (MORO) methods with inner–outer optimization structures usually have high computational complexity, which is a critical issue. Generally, in design problems, robust Pareto solutions lie somewhere closer to nominal Pareto points compared with randomly initialized points. The searching process for robust solutions could be more efficient if starting from nominal Pareto points. We propose a new method sequentially approaching to the robust Pareto front (SARPF) from the nominal Pareto points where MOOPs with uncertainties are solved in two stages. The deterministic optimization problem and robustness metric optimization are solved in the first stage, where nominal Pareto solutions and the robust-most solutions are identified, respectively. In the second stage, a new single-objective robust optimization problem is formulated to find the robust Pareto solutions starting from the nominal Pareto points in the region between the nominal Pareto front and robust-most points. The proposed SARPF method can reduce a significant amount of computational time since the optimization process can be performed in parallel at each stage. Vertex estimation is also applied to approximate the worst-case uncertain parameter values, which can reduce computational efforts further. The global solvers, NSGA-II for multi-objective cases and genetic algorithm (GA) for single-objective cases, are used in corresponding optimization processes. Three examples with the comparison with results from the previous method are presented to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed method.


Author(s):  
Tingting Xia ◽  
Mian Li

Abstract Multi-objective optimization problems (MOOPs) with uncertainties are common in engineering design problems. To find the robust Pareto fronts, multi-objective robust optimization methods with inner-outer optimization structures generally have high computational complexity, which is always an important issue to address. Based on the general experience, robust Pareto solutions usually lie somewhere near the nominal Pareto points. Starting from the obtained nominal Pareto points, the search process for robust solutions could be more efficient. In this paper, we propose a method that sequentially approaching to the robust Pareto front (SARPF) from the nominal Pareto points. MOOPs are solved by the SARPF in two optimization stages. The deterministic optimization problem and the robustness metric optimization problem are solved in the first stage, and nominal Pareto solutions and the robust-most solutions can be found respectively. In the second stage, a new single-objective robust optimization problem is formulated to find the robust Pareto solutions starting from the nominal Pareto points in the region between the nominal Pareto front and the robust-most points. The proposed SARPF method can save a significant amount of computation time since the optimization process can be performed in parallel at each stage. Vertex estimation is also applied to approximate the worst-case uncertain parameter values which can save computational efforts further. The global solvers, NSGA-II for the multi-objective case and genetic algorithm (GA) for the single-objective case, are used in corresponding optimization processes. Two examples with comparison to a previous method are presented for the applicability and efficiency demonstration.


Author(s):  
Zhenkun Wang ◽  
Qingyan Li ◽  
Qite Yang ◽  
Hisao Ishibuchi

AbstractIt has been acknowledged that dominance-resistant solutions (DRSs) extensively exist in the feasible region of multi-objective optimization problems. Recent studies show that DRSs can cause serious performance degradation of many multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). Thereafter, various strategies (e.g., the $$\epsilon $$ ϵ -dominance and the modified objective calculation) to eliminate DRSs have been proposed. However, these strategies may in turn cause algorithm inefficiency in other aspects. We argue that these coping strategies prevent the algorithm from obtaining some boundary solutions of an extremely convex Pareto front (ECPF). That is, there is a dilemma between eliminating DRSs and preserving boundary solutions of the ECPF. To illustrate such a dilemma, we propose a new multi-objective optimization test problem with the ECPF as well as DRSs. Using this test problem, we investigate the performance of six representative MOEAs in terms of boundary solutions preservation and DRS elimination. The results reveal that it is quite challenging to distinguish between DRSs and boundary solutions of the ECPF.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 699
Author(s):  
Daniele Peri

In this paper, some methodologies aimed at the identification of the Pareto front of a multi-objective optimization problem are presented and applied. Three different approaches are presented: local sampling, Pareto front resampling and Normal Boundary Intersection (NBI). A first approximation of the Pareto front is obtained by a regular sampling of the design space, and then the Pareto front is improved and enriched using the other two above mentioned techniques. A detailed Pareto front is obtained for an optimization problem where algebraic objective functions are applied, also in comparison with standard techniques. Encouraging results are also obtained for two different ship design problems. The use of the algebraic functions allows for a comparison with the real Pareto front, correctly detected. The variety of the ship design problems allows for a generalization of the applicability of the methodology.


2012 ◽  
Vol 433-440 ◽  
pp. 2808-2816
Author(s):  
Jian Jin Zheng ◽  
You Shen Xia

This paper presents a new interactive neural network for solving constrained multi-objective optimization problems. The constrained multi-objective optimization problem is reformulated into two constrained single objective optimization problems and two neural networks are designed to obtain the optimal weight and the optimal solution of the two optimization problems respectively. The proposed algorithm has a low computational complexity and is easy to be implemented. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is well applied to the design of digital filters. Computed results illustrate the good performance of the proposed algorithm.


2014 ◽  
Vol 945-949 ◽  
pp. 2241-2247
Author(s):  
De Gao Zhao ◽  
Qiang Li

This paper deals with application of Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm with elitism (NSGA-II) to solve multi-objective optimization problems of designing a vehicle-borne radar antenna pedestal. Five technical improvements are proposed due to the disadvantages of NSGA-II. They are as follow: (1) presenting a new method to calculate the fitness of individuals in population; (2) renewing the definition of crowding distance; (3) introducing a threshold for choosing elitist; (4) reducing some redundant sorting process; (5) developing a self-adaptive arithmetic cross and mutation probability. The modified algorithm can lead to better population diversity than the original NSGA-II. Simulation results prove rationality and validity of the modified NSGA-II. A uniformly distributed Pareto front can be obtained by using the modified NSGA-II. Finally, a multi-objective problem of designing a vehicle-borne radar antenna pedestal is settled with the modified algorithm.


2011 ◽  
Vol 90-93 ◽  
pp. 2734-2739
Author(s):  
Ruan Yun ◽  
Cui Song Yu

Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithms II (NSGAII) has been widely used for multi- objective optimizations. To overcome its premature shortcoming, an improved NSGAII with a new distribution was proposed in this paper. Comparative to NSGAII, improved NSGAII uses an elitist control strategy to protect its lateral diversity among current non-dominated fronts. To implement elitist control strategy, a new distribution (called dogmatic distribution) was proposed. For ordinary multi-objective optimization problem (MOP), an ordinary exploration ability of improved NSGAII should be maintained by using a larger shape parameter r; while for larger-scale complex MOP, a larger exploration ability of improved NSGAII should be maintained by using a less shape parameter r. The application of improved NSGAII in multi-objective operation of Wohu reservoir shows that improved NSGAII has advantages over NSGAII to get better Pareto front especially for large-scale complex multi-objective reservoir operation problems.


Author(s):  
Alexandre Medi ◽  
◽  
Tenda Okimoto ◽  
Katsumi Inoue ◽  
◽  
...  

A Distributed Constraint Optimization Problem (DCOP) is a fundamental problem that can formalize various applications related to multi-agent cooperation. Many application problems in multi-agent systems can be formalized as DCOPs. However, many real world optimization problems involve multiple criteria that should be considered separately and optimized simultaneously. A Multi-Objective Distributed Constraint Optimization Problem (MO-DCOP) is an extension of a mono-objective DCOP. Compared to DCOPs, there exists few works on MO-DCOPs. In this paper, we develop a novel complete algorithm for solving an MO-DCOP. This algorithm utilizes a widely used method called Pareto Local Search (PLS) to generate an approximation of the Pareto front. Then, the obtained information is used to guide the search thresholds in a Branch and Bound algorithm. In the evaluations, we evaluate the runtime of our algorithm and show empirically that using a Pareto front approximation obtained by a PLS algorithm allows to significantly speed-up the search in a Branch and Bound algorithm.


Author(s):  
Jesper Kristensen ◽  
You Ling ◽  
Isaac Asher ◽  
Liping Wang

Adaptive sampling methods have been used to build accurate meta-models across large design spaces from which engineers can explore data trends, investigate optimal designs, study the sensitivity of objectives on the modeling design features, etc. For global design optimization applications, adaptive sampling methods need to be extended to sample more efficiently near the optimal domains of the design space (i.e., the Pareto front/frontier in multi-objective optimization). Expected Improvement (EI) methods have been shown to be efficient to solve design optimization problems using meta-models by incorporating prediction uncertainty. In this paper, a set of state-of-the-art methods (hypervolume EI method and centroid EI method) are presented and implemented for selecting sampling points for multi-objective optimizations. The classical hypervolume EI method uses hyperrectangles to represent the Pareto front, which shows undesirable behavior at the tails of the Pareto front. This issue is addressed utilizing the concepts from physical programming to shape the Pareto front. The modified hypervolume EI method can be extended to increase local Pareto front accuracy in any area identified by an engineer, and this method can be applied to Pareto frontiers of any shape. A novel hypervolume EI method is also developed that does not rely on the assumption of hyperrectangles, but instead assumes the Pareto frontier can be represented by a convex hull. The method exploits fast methods for convex hull construction and numerical integration, and results in a Pareto front shape that is desired in many practical applications. Various performance metrics are defined in order to quantitatively compare and discuss all methods applied to a particular 2D optimization problem from the literature. The modified hypervolume EI methods lead to dramatic resource savings while improving the predictive capabilities near the optimal objective values.


2014 ◽  
Vol 962-965 ◽  
pp. 2903-2908
Author(s):  
Yun Lian Liu ◽  
Wen Li ◽  
Tie Bin Wu ◽  
Yun Cheng ◽  
Tao Yun Zhou ◽  
...  

An improved multi-objective genetic algorithm is proposed to solve constrained optimization problems. The constrained optimization problem is converted into a multi-objective optimization problem. In the evolution process, our algorithm is based on multi-objective technique, where the population is divided into dominated and non-dominated subpopulation. Arithmetic crossover operator is utilized for the randomly selected individuals from dominated and non-dominated subpopulation, respectively. The crossover operator can lead gradually the individuals to the extreme point and improve the local searching ability. Diversity mutation operator is introduced for non-dominated subpopulation. Through testing the performance of the proposed algorithm on 3 benchmark functions and 1 engineering optimization problems, and comparing with other meta-heuristics, the result of simulation shows that the proposed algorithm has great ability of global search. Keywords: multi-objective optimization;genetic algorithm;constrained optimization problem;engineering application


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