Hybrid deep convolution network and differential evolution algorithm for solving non-permutation flow shop scheduling problem.

With explosive growth of industrial big data, workshop scheduling faces problems such as high complexity, multi-dimensionality and low stability. Recent years, the wide application of deep learning provides new idea for scheduling problem. In this paper, a hybrid deep convolution network and differential evolution algorithm is proposed to solve the non-permutation flow shop scheduling problem with the goal of minimizing total completion time. Mining relationship between job attributes and process priority by deep convolutional network is core idea of this method. In this paper, differential evolution algorithm is used to obtain the data set for deep learning, and neighborhood search algorithm is used to optimize scheduling solution. Additionally, a method combining k-means algorithm and data statistics is proposed, which provides a reasonable way for priority division. The experimental results show that this method can greatly improve scheduling efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]