A many‐objective evolutionary algorithm incorporating decision maker's preference and its application to management of the electricity distribution network

Abstract

This paper proposes a step‐by‐step decision making approach that incorporates preferences of a decision maker into a many‐objective evolutionary algorithm. The algorithm is applied to a challenging many‐objective optimization problem (MaOP) involving integer objective values, tight constraints, heavy computational burden, and limited knowledge about the true Pareto front. The proposed method consists of five steps. (a) The entire Pareto front with high dimensions is roughly approximated by a small set of nondominated solutions. (b) On the basis of the approximated Pareto front, the decision maker specifies a preference. (c) Reference points are distributed through part of the objective space using the preference information. (d) The approximation accuracy of the Pareto front in the region of interest is improved by local search using the reference points. (e) The most preferred solution from a set of the nondominated solutions is chosen. The evolutionary algorithms employed in Steps (a) and (d) have an improved normalization procedure and selection mechanism for the MaOP involving integer objective value(s) and the tight constraints. Steps (b) and (e) use a graphical‐user‐interface‐based interactive tool we developed to efficiently narrow down to the preferred solution(s) among the high‐dimensional, nondominated solutions. This alleviates the cognitive burden on the decision maker and therefore aids the decision maker in handling MaOPs. In the computational experiment, we choose the real‐world application of reconfiguring an electricity distribution network. We demonstrate that the proposed approach can provide satisfying solutions to a decision maker.