Initializing K-Means using Genetic Algorithms

K-Means (KM) is considered one of the major algorithms widely used in clustering. However, it still has some problems, and one of them is in its initialization step where it is normally done randomly. Another problem for KM is that it converges to local minima. Genetic algorithms are one of the evolutionary algorithms inspired from nature and utilized in the field of clustering. In this paper, we propose two algorithms to solve the initialization problem, Genetic Algorithm Initializes KM (GAIK) and KM Initializes Genetic Algorithm (KIGA). To show the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithms, a comparative study was done among GAIK, KIGA, Genetic-based Clustering Algorithm (GCA), and FCM [19].

Application of Soft Computing Methods for Economic Dispatch in Power Systems

Economic dispatch problem is an optimization problem where objective function is highly non linear, non-convex, non-differentiable and may have multiple local minima. Therefore, classical optimization methods may not converge or get trapped to any local minima. This paper presents a comparative study of four different evolutionary algorithms i.e. genetic algorithm, bacteria foraging optimization, ant colony optimization and particle swarm optimization for solving the economic dispatch problem. All the methods are tested on IEEE 30 bus test system. Simulation results are presented to show the comparative performance of these methods.

MIMO-OFDM Channel Tracking Using a Dynamic ANN Topology

All the available algorithms for blind estimation namely constant modulus algorithm (CMA), Decision-Directed Algorithm (DDA/DFE) suffer from the problem of convergence to local minima. Also, if the channel drifts considerably, any DDA looses track of the channel. So, their usage is limited in varying channel conditions. The primary limitation in such cases is the requirement of certain overhead bits in the transmit framework which leads to wasteful use of the bandwidth. Also such arrangements fail to use channel state information (CSI) which is an important aid in improving the quality of reception. In this work, the main objective is to reduce the overhead imposed by the pilot symbols, which in effect reduces the system throughput. Also we formulate an arrangement based on certain dynamic Artificial Neural Network (ANN) topologies which not only contributes towards the lowering of the overhead but also facilitates the use of the CSI. A 2×2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system is simulated and the performance variation with different channel estimation schemes are evaluated. A new semi blind approach based on dynamic ANN is proposed for channel tracking in varying channel conditions and the performance is compared with perfectly known CSI and least square (LS) based estimation.

A New Evolutionary Algorithm for Cluster Analysis

Clustering is a very well known technique in data mining. One of the most widely used clustering techniques is the kmeans algorithm. Solutions obtained from this technique depend on the initialization of cluster centers and the final solution converges to local minima. In order to overcome K-means algorithm shortcomings, this paper proposes a hybrid evolutionary algorithm based on the combination of PSO, SA and K-means algorithms, called PSO-SA-K, which can find better cluster partition. The performance is evaluated through several benchmark data sets. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms previous approaches, such as PSO, SA and K-means for partitional clustering problem.

Improved Back Propagation Algorithm to Avoid Local Minima in Multiplicative Neuron Model

The back propagation algorithm calculates the weight changes of artificial neural networks, and a common approach is to use a training algorithm consisting of a learning rate and a momentum factor. The major drawbacks of above learning algorithm are the problems of local minima and slow convergence speeds. The addition of an extra term, called a proportional factor reduces the convergence of the back propagation algorithm. We have applied the three term back propagation to multiplicative neural network learning. The algorithm is tested on XOR and parity problem and compared with the standard back propagation training algorithm.

Robot Motion Planning in Dynamic Environments with Moving Obstacles and Target

This paper presents a new sensor-based online method for generating collision-free near-optimal paths for mobile robots pursuing a moving target amidst dynamic and static obstacles. At each iteration, first the set of all collision-free directions are calculated using velocity vectors of the robot relative to each obstacle and target, forming the Directive Circle (DC), which is a novel concept. Then, a direction close to the shortest path to the target is selected from feasible directions in DC. The DC prevents the robot from being trapped in deadlocks or local minima. It is assumed that the target's velocity is known, while the speeds of dynamic obstacles, as well as the locations of static obstacles, are to be calculated online. Extensive simulations and experimental results demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed method and its success in coping with complex environments and obstacles.