Algorithms最新文献

{"title":"Comparing Direct Deliveries and Automated Parcel Locker Systems with Respect to Overall CO2 Emissions for the Last Mile","authors":"K. Gutenschwager, Markus Rabe, Jorge Chicaiza-Vaca","doi":"10.3390/a17010004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a17010004","url":null,"abstract":"Fast growing e-commerce has a significant impact both on CEP providers and public entities. While service providers have the first priority on factors such as costs and reliable service, both are increasingly focused on environmental effects, in the interest of company image and the inhabitants’ health and comfort. Significant additional factors are traffic density, pollution, and noise. While in the past direct delivery with distribution trucks from regional depots to the customers might have been justified, this is no longer valid when taking the big and growing numbers into account. Several options are followed in the literature, especially variants that introduce an additional break in the distribution chain, like local mini-hubs, mobile distribution points, or Automated Parcel Lockers (APLs). The first two options imply a “very last mile” stage, e.g., by small electrical vehicles or cargo bikes, and APLs rely on the customers to operate the very last step. The usage of this schema will significantly depend on the density of the APLs and, thus, on the density of the population within quite small regions. The relationships between the different elements of these technologies and the potential customers are studied with respect to their impact on the above-mentioned factors. A variety of scenarios is investigated, covering different options for customer behaviors. As an additional important point, reported studies with APLs only consider the section up to the APLs and the implied CO2 emission. This, however, fully neglects the potentially very relevant pollution created by the customers when fetching their parcels from the APL. Therefore, in this paper this impact is systematically estimated via a simulation-based sensitivity analysis. It can be shown that taking this very last transport step into account in the calculation significantly changes the picture, especially within areas in outer city districts.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"8 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138951031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Survey on Swarm Robotics for Area Coverage Problem","authors":"Dena Kadhim Muhsen, Ahmed T. Sadiq, Firas Abdulrazzaq Raheem","doi":"10.3390/a17010003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a17010003","url":null,"abstract":"The area coverage problem solution is one of the vital research areas which can benefit from swarm robotics. The greatest challenge to the swarm robotics system is to complete the task of covering an area effectively. Many domains where area coverage is essential include exploration, surveillance, mapping, foraging, and several other applications. This paper introduces a survey of swarm robotics in area coverage research papers from 2015 to 2022 regarding the algorithms and methods used, hardware, and applications in this domain. Different types of algorithms and hardware were dealt with and analysed; according to the analysis, the characteristics and advantages of each of them were identified, and we determined their suitability for different applications in covering the area for many goals. This study demonstrates that naturally inspired algorithms have the most significant role in swarm robotics for area coverage compared to other techniques. In addition, modern hardware has more capabilities suitable for supporting swarm robotics to cover an area, even if the environment is complex and contains static or dynamic obstacles.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"13 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139170950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using Markov Random Field and Analytic Hierarchy Process to Account for Interdependent Criteria","authors":"Jih-Jeng Huang, Chin-Yi Chen","doi":"10.3390/a17010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a17010001","url":null,"abstract":"The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been a widely used multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method since the 1980s because of its simplicity and rationality. However, the conventional AHP assumes criteria independence, which is not always accurate in realistic scenarios where interdependencies between criteria exist. Several methods have been proposed to relax the postulation of the independent criteria in the AHP, e.g., the Analytic Network Process (ANP). However, these methods usually need a number of pairwise comparison matrices (PCMs) and make it hard to apply to a complicated and large-scale problem. This paper presents a groundbreaking approach to address this issue by incorporating discrete Markov Random Fields (MRFs) into the AHP framework. Our method enhances decision making by effectively and sensibly capturing interdependencies among criteria, reflecting actual weights. Moreover, we showcase a numerical example to illustrate the proposed method and compare the results with the conventional AHP and Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM). The findings highlight our method’s ability to influence global priority values and the ranking of alternatives when considering interdependencies between criteria. These results suggest that the introduced method provides a flexible and adaptable framework for modeling interdependencies between criteria, ultimately leading to more accurate and reliable decision-making outcomes.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":" November","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138960424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Velocity Estimation Using Time-Differenced Carrier Phase and Doppler Shift with Different Grades of Devices: From Smartphones to Professional Receivers","authors":"A. Angrisano, Giovanni Cappello, S. Gaglione, C. Gioia","doi":"10.3390/a17010002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a17010002","url":null,"abstract":"Velocity estimation has a key role in several applications; for instance, velocity estimation in navigation or in mobile mapping systems and GNSSs is currently a common way to achieve reliable and accurate velocity. Two approaches are mainly used to obtain velocity based on GNSS measurements, i.e., Doppler observations and carrier phases differenced in time (that is, TDCP). In a benign environment, Doppler-based velocity can be estimated accurately to within a few cm/s, while TDCP-based velocity can be estimated accurately to within a few mm/s. On the other hand, the TDCP technique is more prone to availability shortage and the presence of blunders. In this work, the two mentioned approaches are tested, using three devices of different grades: a high-grade geodetic receiver, a high-sensitivity receiver, and a GNSS chip mounted on a smartphone. The measurements of geodetic receivers are inherently cleaner, providing an accurate solution, while the remaining two receivers provide worse results. The case of smartphone GNSS chips can be particularly critical owing to the equipped antenna, which makes the measurements noisy and largely affected by blunders. The GNSSs are considered separately in order to assess the performance of the single systems. The analysis carried out in this research confirms the previous considerations about receiver grades and processing techniques. Additionally, the obtained results highlight the necessity of adopting a diagnostic approach to the measurements, such as RAIM-FDE, especially for low-grade receivers.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"114 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138959646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Image Deblurring Based on Convex Non-Convex Sparse Regularization and Plug-and-Play Algorithm","authors":"Yi Wang, Yating Xu, Tianjian Li, Tao Zhang, Jian Zou","doi":"10.3390/a16120574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a16120574","url":null,"abstract":"Image deblurring based on sparse regularization has garnered significant attention, but there are still certain limitations that need to be addressed. For instance, convex sparse regularization tends to exhibit biased estimation, which can adversely impact the deblurring performance, while non-convex sparse regularization poses challenges in terms of solving techniques. Furthermore, the performance of the traditional iterative algorithm also needs to be improved. In this paper, we propose an image deblurring method based on convex non-convex (CNC) sparse regularization and a plug-and-play (PnP) algorithm. The utilization of CNC sparse regularization not only mitigates estimation bias but also guarantees the overall convexity of the image deblurring model. The PnP algorithm is an advanced learning-based optimization algorithm that surpasses traditional optimization algorithms in terms of efficiency and performance by utilizing the state-of-the-art denoiser to replace the proximal operator. Numerical experiments verify the performance of our proposed algorithm in image deblurring.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"5 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138995564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On the Development of Descriptor-Based Machine Learning Models for Thermodynamic Properties: Part 2—Applicability Domain and Outliers","authors":"Cindy Trinh, Silvia Lasala, O. Herbinet, Dimitrios Meimaroglou","doi":"10.3390/a16120573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a16120573","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates the applicability domain (AD) of machine learning (ML) models trained on high-dimensional data, for the prediction of the ideal gas enthalpy of formation and entropy of molecules via descriptors. The AD is crucial as it describes the space of chemical characteristics in which the model can make predictions with a given reliability. This work studies the AD definition of a ML model throughout its development procedure: during data preprocessing, model construction and model deployment. Three AD definition methods, commonly used for outlier detection in high-dimensional problems, are compared: isolation forest (iForest), random forest prediction confidence (RF confidence) and k-nearest neighbors in the 2D projection of descriptor space obtained via t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (tSNE2D/kNN). These methods compute an anomaly score that can be used instead of the distance metrics of classical low-dimension AD definition methods, the latter being generally unsuitable for high-dimensional problems. Typically, in low- (high-) dimensional problems, a molecule is considered to lie within the AD if its distance from the training domain (anomaly score) is below a given threshold. During data preprocessing, the three AD definition methods are used to identify outlier molecules and the effect of their removal is investigated. A more significant improvement of model performance is observed when outliers identified with RF confidence are removed (e.g., for a removal of 30% of outliers, the MAE (Mean Absolute Error) of the test dataset is divided by 2.5, 1.6 and 1.1 for RF confidence, iForest and tSNE2D/kNN, respectively). While these three methods identify X-outliers, the effect of other types of outliers, namely Model-outliers and y-outliers, is also investigated. In particular, the elimination of X-outliers followed by that of Model-outliers enables us to divide MAE and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) by 2 and 3, respectively, while reducing overfitting. The elimination of y-outliers does not display a significant effect on the model performance. During model construction and deployment, the AD serves to verify the position of the test data and of different categories of molecules with respect to the training data and associate this position with their prediction accuracy. For the data that are found to be close to the training data, according to RF confidence, and display high prediction errors, tSNE 2D representations are deployed to identify the possible sources of these errors (e.g., representation of the chemical information in the training data).","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138965324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving Clustering Accuracy of K-Means and Random Swap by an Evolutionary Technique Based on Careful Seeding","authors":"L. Nigro, F. Cicirelli","doi":"10.3390/a16120572","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a16120572","url":null,"abstract":"K-Means is a “de facto” standard clustering algorithm due to its simplicity and efficiency. K-Means, though, strongly depends on the initialization of the centroids (seeding method) and often gets stuck in a local sub-optimal solution. K-Means, in fact, mainly acts as a local refiner of the centroids, and it is unable to move centroids all over the data space. Random Swap was defined to go beyond K-Means, and its modus operandi integrates K-Means in a global strategy of centroids management, which can often generate a clustering solution close to the global optimum. This paper proposes an approach which extends both K-Means and Random Swap and improves the clustering accuracy through an evolutionary technique and careful seeding. Two new algorithms are proposed: the Population-Based K-Means (PB-KM) and the Population-Based Random Swap (PB-RS). Both algorithms consist of two steps: first, a population of J candidate solutions is built, and then the candidate centroids are repeatedly recombined toward a final accurate solution. The paper motivates the design of PB-KM and PB-RS, outlines their current implementation in Java based on parallel streams, and demonstrates the achievable clustering accuracy using both synthetic and real-world datasets.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"6 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138966533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolutionary Algorithms in a Bacterial Consortium of Synthetic Bacteria","authors":"Sara Lledó Villaescusa, Rafael Lahoz-Beltra","doi":"10.3390/a16120571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a16120571","url":null,"abstract":"At present, synthetic biology applications are based on the programming of synthetic bacteria with custom-designed genetic circuits through the application of a top-down strategy. These genetic circuits are the programs that implement a certain algorithm, the bacterium being the agent or shell responsible for the execution of the program in a given environment. In this work, we study the possibility that instead of programming synthesized bacteria through a custom-designed genetic circuit, it is the circuit itself which emerges as a result of the evolution simulated through an evolutionary algorithm. This study is conducted by performing in silico experiments in a community composed of synthetic bacteria in which one species or strain behaves as pathogenic bacteria against the rest of the non-pathogenic bacteria that are also part of the bacterial consortium. The goal is the eradication of the pathogenic strain through the evolutionary programming of the agents or synthetic bacteria. The results obtained suggest the plausibility of the evolutionary design of the appropriate genetic circuit resulting from the application of a bottom-up strategy and therefore the experimental feasibility of the evolutionary programming of synthetic bacteria.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"9 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138966227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Solving NP-Hard Challenges in Logistics and Transportation under General Uncertainty Scenarios Using Fuzzy Simheuristics","authors":"Angel A. Juan, Markus Rabe, Majsa Ammouriova, Javier Panadero, David Peidro, Daniel Riera","doi":"10.3390/a16120570","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a16120570","url":null,"abstract":"In the field of logistics and transportation (L&T), this paper reviews the utilization of simheuristic algorithms to address NP-hard optimization problems under stochastic uncertainty. Then, the paper explores an extension of the simheuristics concept by introducing a fuzzy layer to tackle complex optimization problems involving both stochastic and fuzzy uncertainties. The hybrid approach combines simulation, metaheuristics, and fuzzy logic, offering a feasible methodology to solve large-scale NP-hard problems under general uncertainty scenarios. These scenarios are commonly encountered in L&T optimization challenges, such as the vehicle routing problem or the team orienteering problem, among many others. The proposed methodology allows for modeling various problem components—including travel times, service times, customers’ demands, or the duration of electric batteries—as deterministic, stochastic, or fuzzy items. A cross-problem analysis of several computational experiments is conducted to validate the effectiveness of the fuzzy simheuristic methodology. Being a flexible methodology that allows us to tackle NP-hard challenges under general uncertainty scenarios, fuzzy simheuristics can also be applied in fields other than L&T.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"61 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138967831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Generator of Fuzzy Implications","authors":"Athina Daniilidou, A. Konguetsof, Georgios Souliotis, Basil Papadopoulos","doi":"10.3390/a16120569","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a16120569","url":null,"abstract":"In this research paper, a generator of fuzzy methods based on theorems and axioms of fuzzy logic is derived, analyzed and applied. The family presented generates fuzzy implications according to the value of a selected parameter. The obtained fuzzy implications should satisfy a number of axioms, and the conditions of satisfying the maximum number of axioms are denoted. New theorems are stated and proven based on the rule that the fuzzy function of fuzzy implication, which is strong, leads to fuzzy negation. In this work, the data taken were fuzzified for the application of the new formulae. The fuzzification of the data was undertaken using four kinds of membership degree functions. The new fuzzy functions were compared based on the results obtained after a number of repetitions. The new proposed methodology presents a new family of fuzzy implications, and also an algorithm is shown that produces fuzzy implications so as to be able to select the optimal method of the generator according to the value of a free parameter.","PeriodicalId":7636,"journal":{"name":"Algorithms","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139000374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}