Guided Local Search - an illustrative example in function optimisation

The Guided Local Search method has been successfully applied to a number of hard combinatorial optimisation problems from the well-known TSP and QAP to real-world problems such as frequency assignment and workforce scheduling. In this paper it is demonstrated that the potential applications of GLS are Mot limited to optimisation problems of discrete nature but also to difficult continuous optimisation problems. Continuous optimisation problems arise in many engineering disciplines (such as electrical and mechanical engineering) in the context of analysis, design or simulation tasks. The problem examined gives an illustrative ex-ample of the behaviour of GLS, providing insights on the mechanisms of the algorithm.