Noise is a common factor in most real-world optimization problems. Sources of noise can include physical measurement limitations, stochastic simulation models, incomplete sampling of large spaces, and human-computer interaction. Evolutionary algorithms are general, nature-inspired heuristics for numerical search and optimization that are frequently observed to be particularly robust with regard to the effects of noise. Noisy Optimization with Evolution Strategies contributes to the understanding of evolutionary optimization in the presence of noise by investigating the performance of evolution strategies, a type of evolutionary algorithm frequently employed for solving real-valued optimization problems. By considering simple noisy environments, results are obtained that describe how the performance of the strategies scales with both parameters of the problem and of the strategies considered. Such scaling laws allow for comparisons of different strategy variants, for tuning evolution strategies for maximum performance, and they offer insights and an understanding of the behavior of the strategies that go beyond what can be learned from mere experimentation. This first comprehensive work on noisy optimization with evolution strategies investigates the effects of systematic fitness overvaluation, the benefits of distributed populations, and the potential of genetic repair for optimization in the presence of noise. The relative robustness of evolution strategies is confirmed in a comparison with other direct search algorithms. Noisy Optimization with Evolution Strategies is an invaluable resource for researchers and practitioners of evolutionary algorithms.

Noisy optimization is a topic of growing interest for researchers working on mainstream optimization problems. Although several techniques for dealing with stochastic noise in optimization problems are covered in journals and conference proceedings, today there are virtually no books that approach noisy optimization from a layman’s perspective; this book remedies that gap. Beginning with the foundations of evolutionary optimization, the book subsequently explores the principles of noisy optimization in single and multi-objective settings, and presents detailed illustrations of the principles developed for application in real-world multi-agent coordination problems. Special emphasis is given to the design of intelligent algorithms for noisy optimization in real-time applications. The book is unique in terms of its content, writing style and above all its simplicity, which will appeal to readers with a broad range of backgrounds. The book is divided into 7 chapters, the first of which provides an introduction to Swarm and Evolutionary Optimization algorithms. Chapter 2 includes a thorough review of agent architectures for multi-agent coordination. In turn, Chapter 3 provides an extensive review of noisy optimization, while Chapter 4 addresses issues of noise handling in the context of single-objective optimization problems. An illustrative case study on multi-robot path-planning in the presence of measurement noise is also highlighted in this chapter. Chapter 5 deals with noisy multi-objective optimization and includes a case study on noisy multi-robot box-pushing. In Chapter 6, the authors examine the scope of various algorithms in noisy optimization problems. Lastly, Chapter 7 summarizes the main results obtained in the previous chapters and elaborates on the book’s potential with regard to real-world noisy optimization problems.

This volume covers both classical results and the most recent theoretical developments in the field of randomized search heuristics such as runtime analysis, drift analysis and convergence.

The use of evolutionary computation techniques has grown considerably over the past several years. Over this time, the use and applications of these techniques have been further enhanced resulting in a set of computational intelligence (also known as modern heuristics) tools that are particularly adept for solving complex optimization problems. Moreover, they are characteristically more robust than traditional methods based on formal logics or mathematical programming for many real world OR/MS problems. Hence, evolutionary computation techniques have dealt with complex optimization problems better than traditional optimization techniques although they can be applied to easy and simple problems where conventional techniques work well. Clearly there is a need for a volume that both reviews state-of-the-art evolutionary computation techniques, and surveys the most recent developments in their use for solving complex OR/MS problems. This volume on Evolutionary Optimization seeks to fill this need. Evolutionary Optimization is a volume of invited papers written by leading researchers in the field. All papers were peer reviewed by at least two recognized reviewers. The book covers the foundation as well as the practical side of evolutionary optimization.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th workshop on the foundations of genetic algorithms, FOGA 2005, held in Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Japan, in January 2005. The 16 revised full papers presented provide an outstanding source of reference for the field of theoretical evolutionary computation including evolution strategies, evolutionary programming, and genetic programming, as well as the continuing growth in interactions with other fields such as mathematics, physics, and biology.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Applications of Evolutionary Computation, EvoApplications 2019, held in Leipzig, Germany, in April 2019, co-located with the Evo*2019 events EuroGP, EvoCOP and EvoMUSART. The 44 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 66 submissions. They were organized in topical sections named: Engineering and Real World Applications; Games; General; Image and Signal Processing; Life Sciences; Networks and Distributed Systems; Neuroevolution and Data Analytics; Numerical Optimization: Theory, Benchmarks, and Applications; Robotics.

Frontiers of Evolutionary Computation brings together eleven contributions by international leading researchers discussing what significant issues still remain unresolved in the field of Evolutionary Computation (Ee. They explore such topics as the role of building blocks, the balancing of exploration with exploitation, the modeling of EC algorithms, the connection with optimization theory and the role of EC as a meta-heuristic method, to name a few. The articles feature a mixture of informal discussion interspersed with formal statements, thus providing the reader an opportunity to observe a wide range of EC problems from the investigative perspective of world-renowned researchers. These prominent researchers include: Heinz M]hlenbein, Kenneth De Jong, Carlos Cotta and Pablo Moscato, Lee Altenberg, Gary A. Kochenberger, Fred Glover, Bahram Alidaee and Cesar Rego, William G. Macready, Christopher R. Stephens and Riccardo Poli, Lothar M. Schmitt, John R. Koza, Matthew J. Street and Martin A. Keane, Vivek Balaraman, Wolfgang Banzhaf and Julian Miller.

This book constitutes the throughly refereed post-proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Intelligent Data Engineering and Automated Learning, IDEAL 2003, held in Hong Kong, China in March 2003. The 164 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 321 submissions; for inclusion in this post-proceedings another round of revision was imposed. The papers are organized in topical sections an agents, automated learning, bioinformatics, data mining, multimedia information, and financial engineering.

Evolutionary Algorithms for Embedded System Design describes how Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) concepts can be applied to circuit and system design - an area where time-to-market demands are critical. EAs create an interesting alternative to other approaches since they can be scaled with the problem size and can be easily run on parallel computer systems. This book presents several successful EA techniques and shows how they can be applied at different levels of the design process. Starting on a high-level abstraction, where software components are dominant, several optimization steps are demonstrated, including DSP code optimization and test generation. Throughout the book, EAs are tested on real-world applications and on large problem instances. For each application the main criteria for the successful application in the corresponding domain are discussed. In addition, contributions from leading international researchers provide the reader with a variety of perspectives, including a special focus on the combination of EAs with problem specific heuristics. Evolutionary Algorithms for Embedded System Design is an excellent reference for both practitioners working in the area of circuit and system design and for researchers in the field of evolutionary concepts.

Provides research on e-government and its implications within the global context. Covers topics such as digital government, electronic justice, government-to-government, information policy, and cyber-infrastructure research and methodologies.