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This book presents advances and innovations in grouping genetic algorithms, enriched with new and unique heuristic optimization techniques. These algorithms are specially designed for solving industrial grouping problems where system entities are to be partitioned or clustered into efficient groups according to a set of guiding decision criteria. Examples of such problems are: vehicle routing problems, team formation problems, timetabling problems, assembly line balancing, group maintenance planning, modular design, and task assignment. A wide range of industrial grouping problems, drawn from diverse fields such as logistics, supply chain management, project management, manufacturing systems, engineering design and healthcare, are presented. Typical complex industrial grouping problems, with multiple decision criteria and constraints, are clearly described using illustrative diagrams and formulations. The problems are mapped into a common group structure that can conveniently be used as an input scheme to specific variants of grouping genetic algorithms. Unique heuristic grouping techniques are developed to handle grouping problems efficiently and effectively. Illustrative examples and computational results are presented in tables and graphs to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the algorithms.Researchers, decision analysts, software developers, and graduate students from various disciplines will find this in-depth reader-friendly exposition of advances and applications of grouping genetic algorithms an interesting, informative and valuable resource.

Von allen Lagerhausfunktionen wird die Kommissionierung üblicherweise als die wichtigste angesehen. Eines der zentralen Planungsprobleme umfasst dabei die Bildung von Kommissionieraufträgen, das sogenannte Order Batching. Sören Koch entwickelt Genetische Algorithmen zur Lösung des Order Batching-Problems, die er in umfangreichen numerischen Experimenten evaluiert. Die dabei erzielten Ergebnisse sind von großer praktischer Relevanz für die Logistikbranche und verdeutlichen, welches Optimierungspotential der Einsatz von Methoden des Operations Research birgt.

Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) are powerful search and optimisation techniques inspired by the mechanisms of natural evolution. They imitate, on an abstract level, biological principles such as a population based approach, the inheritance of information, the variation of information via crossover/mutation, and the selection of individuals based on fitness. The most well-known class of EA are Genetic Algorithms (GA), which have received much attention not only in the scientific community lately. Other variants of EA, in particular Genetic Programming, Evolution Strategies, and Evolutionary Programming are less popular, though very powerful too. Traditionally, most practical applications of EA have appeared in the technical sector. Management problems, for a long time, have been a rather neglected field of EA-research. This is surprising, since the great potential of evolutionary approaches for the business and economics domain was recognised in pioneering publications quite a while ago. John Holland, for instance, in his seminal book Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems (The University of Michigan Press, 1975) identified economics as one of the prime targets for a theory of adaptation, as formalised in his reproductive plans (later called Genetic Algorithms).

Scheduling, planning and packing are ubiquitous problems that can be found in a wide range of real-world settings. These problems transpire in a large variety of forms, and have enormous socio-economic impact. For many years, significant work has been devoted to automating the processes of scheduling, planning and packing using different kinds of methods. However, poor scaling and the lack of flexibility of many of the conventional methods coupled with the fact that most of the real-world problems across the application areas of scheduling, planning and packing nowadays tend to be of large scale, dynamic and full of complex dependencies have made it necessary to tackle them in unconventional ways. This volume,'Natural Intelligence for Scheduling, Planning and Packing Problems', is a collection of numerous natural intelligence based approaches for solving various kinds of scheduling, planning and packing problems. It comprises 12 chapters which present many methods that draw inspiration from nature, such as evolutionary algorithms, neural-fuzzy system, particle swarm algorithms, ant colony optimisation, extremal optimisation, raindrop optimisation, and so on. Problems addressed by these chapters include freight transportation, job shop scheduling, flowshop scheduling, electrical load forecasting, vehicle routing, two-dimensional strip packing, network configuration and forest planning, among others. Along with solving these problems, the contributing authors present a lively discussion of the various aspects of the nature-inspired algorithms utilised, providing very useful and important new insights into the research areas.

Network models are critical tools in business, management, science and industry. “Network Models and Optimization” presents an insightful, comprehensive, and up-to-date treatment of multiple objective genetic algorithms to network optimization problems in many disciplines, such as engineering, computer science, operations research, transportation, telecommunication, and manufacturing. The book extensively covers algorithms and applications, including shortest path problems, minimum cost flow problems, maximum flow problems, minimum spanning tree problems, traveling salesman and postman problems, location-allocation problems, project scheduling problems, multistage-based scheduling problems, logistics network problems, communication network problem, and network models in assembly line balancing problems, and airline fleet assignment problems. The book can be used both as a student textbook and as a professional reference for practitioners who use network optimization methods to model and solve problems.

Cellular Genetic Algorithms defines a new class of optimization algorithms based on the concepts of structured populations and Genetic Algorithms (GAs). The authors explain and demonstrate the validity of these cellular genetic algorithms throughout the book. This class of genetic algorithms is shown to produce impressive results on a whole range of domains, including complex problems that are epistatic, multi-modal, deceptive, discrete, continuous, multi-objective, and random in nature. The focus of this book is twofold. On the one hand, the authors present new algorithmic models and extensions to the basic class of Cellular GAs in order to tackle complex problems more efficiently. On the other hand, practical real world tasks are successfully faced by applying Cellular GA methodologies to produce workable solutions of real-world applications. These methods can include local search (memetic algorithms), cooperation, parallelism, multi-objective, estimations of distributions, and self-adaptive ideas to extend their applicability. The methods are benchmarked against well-known metaheuristics like Genetic Algorithms, Tabu Search, heterogeneous GAs, Estimation of Distribution Algorithms, etc. Also, a publicly available software tool is offered to reduce the learning curve in applying these techniques. The three final chapters will use the classic problem of “vehicle routing” and the hot topics of “ad-hoc mobile networks” and “DNA genome sequencing” to clearly illustrate and demonstrate the power and utility of these algorithms.

In the field of genetic and evolutionary algorithms (GEAs), a large amount of theory and empirical study has been focused on operators and test problems, while problem representation has often been taken as given. This book breaks with this tradition and provides a comprehensive overview on the influence of problem representations on GEA performance. The book summarizes existing knowledge regarding problem representations and describes how basic properties of representations, such as redundancy, scaling, or locality, influence the performance of GEAs and other heuristic optimization methods. Using the developed theory, representations can be analyzed and designed in a theory-guided matter. The theoretical concepts are used for solving integer optimization problems and network design problems more efficiently. The book is written in an easy-readable style and is intended for researchers, practitioners, and students who want to learn about representations. This second edition extends the analysis of the basic properties of representations and introduces a new chapter on the analysis of direct representations.

Di?erential evolution is one of the most recent global optimizers. Discovered in 1995 it rapidly proved its practical e?ciency. This book gives you a chance to learn all about di?erential evolution. On reading it you will be able to pro?tably apply this reliable method to problems in your?eld. Asforme,mypassionforintelligentsystemsandoptimizationbeganasfar back as during my studies at Moscow State Technical University of Bauman, the best engineering school in Russia. At that time, I was gathering material for my future thesis. Being interested in my work, the Mining School of Paris proposed that I write a dissertation in France. I hesitated some time over a choice, but my natural curiosity and taste for novelty?nally prevailed. At ´ present, Docteur ` es science en informatique de l'EcoledesMinesdeParis,I am concentrating on the development of my own enterprise. If optimization is my vocation, my hobbies are mathematics and music. Although mathematics disciplines the mind, music is?lled with emotions. While playing my favorite composition, I decided to write this book. The purpose of the book is to give, in a condensed but overview form, a description of di?erential evolution. In addition, this book makes accessible to a wide audience the fruits of my long research in optimization. Namely, I laid the foundation of the universal concept of search strategies design, suitable not only for di?erential evolution but for many other algorithms. Also, I introduced a principle of energetic selection, an e?cient method of hybridization, and advanced paralleling techniques.

Genetic Algorithms: Principles and Perspectives: A Guide to GA Theory is a survey of some important theoretical contributions, many of which have been proposed and developed in the Foundations of Genetic Algorithms series of workshops. However, this theoretical work is still rather fragmented, and the authors believe that it is the right time to provide the field with a systematic presentation of the current state of theory in the form of a set of theoretical perspectives. The authors do this in the interest of providing students and researchers with a balanced foundational survey of some recent research on GAs. The scope of the book includes chapter-length discussions of Basic Principles, Schema Theory,'No Free Lunch', GAs and Markov Processes, Dynamical Systems Model, Statistical Mechanics Approximations, Predicting GA Performance, Landscapes and Test Problems.