Tonghao Wang , Xingguang Peng , Xiaokang Lei , Handing Wang , Yaochu Jin
{"title":"具有可转移代理的分层多智能体系统的知识辅助进化任务调度","authors":"Tonghao Wang , Xingguang Peng , Xiaokang Lei , Handing Wang , Yaochu Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.swevo.2025.102107","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Task scheduling is a primary step of a hierarchical multiagent system (HMAS) before solving tasks, presenting significant challenges due to its NP-hard complexity and variable-size decision space with different numbers of decision variables. This variability arises because a key decision is determining the number of agents to deploy, which directly affects the dimension of the decision vector. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been widely adopted in addressing the task scheduling problem for HMAS due to their ability to solve NP-hard problems. However, applying conventional fixed-length EAs to such problems often necessitates techniques like expanding the decision space, which negatively impacts search efficiency. Meanwhile, the evaluations of the candidate solutions need physics-based simulations with complex dynamics, which require high computational costs. To solve the HMAS task scheduling problem efficiently, our approach leverages domain knowledge by a genetic programming framework alongside a knowledge-data dual-driven surrogate, which avoids searching in expanded decision spaces and facilitates low-cost evaluation. Notably, the proposed surrogate model can be easily transferred among different task settings, further decreasing the computational load in deploying the HMAS in real-world applications. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated through extensive simulations on an unmanned ground vehicle/unmanned aerial vehicle (UGV/UAV) cooperation system, showcasing superior efficiency and efficacy. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is also validated in a real-world multi-robot system, further demonstrating the efficacy and efficiency of the method, as well as the transferability of the proposed surrogate model.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48682,"journal":{"name":"Swarm and Evolutionary Computation","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102107"},"PeriodicalIF":8.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Knowledge-assisted evolutionary task scheduling for hierarchical multiagent systems with transferable surrogates\",\"authors\":\"Tonghao Wang , Xingguang Peng , Xiaokang Lei , Handing Wang , Yaochu Jin\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.swevo.2025.102107\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><div>Task scheduling is a primary step of a hierarchical multiagent system (HMAS) before solving tasks, presenting significant challenges due to its NP-hard complexity and variable-size decision space with different numbers of decision variables. This variability arises because a key decision is determining the number of agents to deploy, which directly affects the dimension of the decision vector. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been widely adopted in addressing the task scheduling problem for HMAS due to their ability to solve NP-hard problems. However, applying conventional fixed-length EAs to such problems often necessitates techniques like expanding the decision space, which negatively impacts search efficiency. Meanwhile, the evaluations of the candidate solutions need physics-based simulations with complex dynamics, which require high computational costs. To solve the HMAS task scheduling problem efficiently, our approach leverages domain knowledge by a genetic programming framework alongside a knowledge-data dual-driven surrogate, which avoids searching in expanded decision spaces and facilitates low-cost evaluation. Notably, the proposed surrogate model can be easily transferred among different task settings, further decreasing the computational load in deploying the HMAS in real-world applications. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated through extensive simulations on an unmanned ground vehicle/unmanned aerial vehicle (UGV/UAV) cooperation system, showcasing superior efficiency and efficacy. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is also validated in a real-world multi-robot system, further demonstrating the efficacy and efficiency of the method, as well as the transferability of the proposed surrogate model.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":48682,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Swarm and Evolutionary Computation\",\"volume\":\"98 \",\"pages\":\"Article 102107\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":8.5000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-08-06\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Swarm and Evolutionary Computation\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"94\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210650225002652\",\"RegionNum\":1,\"RegionCategory\":\"计算机科学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Swarm and Evolutionary Computation","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210650225002652","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
Knowledge-assisted evolutionary task scheduling for hierarchical multiagent systems with transferable surrogates
Task scheduling is a primary step of a hierarchical multiagent system (HMAS) before solving tasks, presenting significant challenges due to its NP-hard complexity and variable-size decision space with different numbers of decision variables. This variability arises because a key decision is determining the number of agents to deploy, which directly affects the dimension of the decision vector. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been widely adopted in addressing the task scheduling problem for HMAS due to their ability to solve NP-hard problems. However, applying conventional fixed-length EAs to such problems often necessitates techniques like expanding the decision space, which negatively impacts search efficiency. Meanwhile, the evaluations of the candidate solutions need physics-based simulations with complex dynamics, which require high computational costs. To solve the HMAS task scheduling problem efficiently, our approach leverages domain knowledge by a genetic programming framework alongside a knowledge-data dual-driven surrogate, which avoids searching in expanded decision spaces and facilitates low-cost evaluation. Notably, the proposed surrogate model can be easily transferred among different task settings, further decreasing the computational load in deploying the HMAS in real-world applications. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated through extensive simulations on an unmanned ground vehicle/unmanned aerial vehicle (UGV/UAV) cooperation system, showcasing superior efficiency and efficacy. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is also validated in a real-world multi-robot system, further demonstrating the efficacy and efficiency of the method, as well as the transferability of the proposed surrogate model.
期刊介绍:
Swarm and Evolutionary Computation is a pioneering peer-reviewed journal focused on the latest research and advancements in nature-inspired intelligent computation using swarm and evolutionary algorithms. It covers theoretical, experimental, and practical aspects of these paradigms and their hybrids, promoting interdisciplinary research. The journal prioritizes the publication of high-quality, original articles that push the boundaries of evolutionary computation and swarm intelligence. Additionally, it welcomes survey papers on current topics and novel applications. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: Genetic Algorithms, and Genetic Programming, Evolution Strategies, and Evolutionary Programming, Differential Evolution, Artificial Immune Systems, Particle Swarms, Ant Colony, Bacterial Foraging, Artificial Bees, Fireflies Algorithm, Harmony Search, Artificial Life, Digital Organisms, Estimation of Distribution Algorithms, Stochastic Diffusion Search, Quantum Computing, Nano Computing, Membrane Computing, Human-centric Computing, Hybridization of Algorithms, Memetic Computing, Autonomic Computing, Self-organizing systems, Combinatorial, Discrete, Binary, Constrained, Multi-objective, Multi-modal, Dynamic, and Large-scale Optimization.