An interactive estimation of distribution algorithm for unequal area facility layout problem

Both the quantitative and qualitative indices should be considered in order to obtain more robust solutions in the unequal area facility layout problem (UA-FLP) with interactive optimization method. This paper proposed a dual-probabilistic-model-assisted interactive estimation of distribution algorithm. Firstly, an explicit index probability model was established to estimate decision variables distribution through making an statistics to the group information. Subsequently, an implicit index probability model was established based on phenotype similarity of decision variables. In this way, the individual qualitative index was estimated based on utility function. Furthermore, the two probability models were merged into dual probabilistic model which generated new population through sampling. Finally, the dual probabilistic model was dynamic updated based on recommended individuals and evaluation information. The proposed method was compared with six related evolutionary algorithms on the Carton Packs problem and 16 UA-FLP test sets, and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can efficiently obtain optimal layouts. © 2024 South China University of Technology. All rights reserved.