Multi-Objective Teaching-Learning-Based Optimizer for a Multi-Weeding Robot Task Assignment Problem

With the emergence of the artificial intelligence era,all kinds of robots are traditionally used in agricultural production.However,studies concerning the robot task assignment problem in the agriculture field,which is closely related to the cost and efficiency of a smart farm,are limited.Therefore,a Multi-Weeding Robot Task Assignment(MWRTA)problem is addressed in this paper to minimize the maximum completion time and residual herbicide.A mathematical model is set up,and a Multi-Objective Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization(MOTLBO)algorithm is presented to solve the problem.In the MOTLBO algorithm,a heuristicbased initialization comprising an improved Nawaz Enscore,and Ham(NEH)heuristic and maximum loadbased heuristic is used to generate an initial population with a high level of quality and diversity.An effective teaching-learning-based optimization process is designed with a dynamic grouping mechanism and a redefined individual updating rule.A multi-neighborhood-based local search strategy is provided to balance the exploitation and exploration of the algorithm.Finally,a comprehensive experiment is conducted to compare the proposed algorithm with several state-of-the-art algorithms in the literature.Experimental results demonstrate the significant superiority of the proposed algorithm for solving the problem under consideration.

Task assignment in ground-to-air confrontation based on multiagent deep reinforcement learning

The scale of ground-to-air confrontation task assignments is large and needs to deal with many concurrent task assignments and random events.Aiming at the problems where existing task assignment methods are applied to ground-to-air confrontation,there is low efficiency in dealing with complex tasks,and there are interactive conflicts in multiagent systems.This study proposes a multiagent architecture based on a one-general agent with multiple narrow agents(OGMN)to reduce task assignment conflicts.Considering the slow speed of traditional dynamic task assignment algorithms,this paper proposes the proximal policy optimization for task assignment of general and narrow agents(PPOTAGNA)algorithm.The algorithm based on the idea of the optimal assignment strategy algorithm and combined with the training framework of deep reinforcement learning(DRL)adds a multihead attention mechanism and a stage reward mechanism to the bilateral band clipping PPO algorithm to solve the problem of low training efficiency.Finally,simulation experiments are carried out in the digital battlefield.The multiagent architecture based on OGMN combined with the PPO-TAGNA algorithm can obtain higher rewards faster and has a higher win ratio.By analyzing agent behavior,the efficiency,superiority and rationality of resource utilization of this method are verified.

UAVs cooperative task assignment and trajectory optimization with safety and time constraints

This paper proposes new methods and strategies for Multi-UAVs cooperative attacks with safety and time constraints in a complex environment.Delaunay triangle is designed to construct a map of the complex flight environment for aerial vehicles.Delaunay-Map,Safe Flight Corridor(SFC),and Relative Safe Flight Corridor(RSFC)are applied to ensure each UAV flight trajectory's safety.By using such techniques,it is possible to avoid the collision with obstacles and collision between UAVs.Bezier-curve is further developed to ensure that multi-UAVs can simultaneously reach the target at the specified time,and the trajectory is within the flight corridor.The trajectory tracking controller is also designed based on model predictive control to track the planned trajectory accurately.The simulation and experiment results are presented to verifying developed strategies of Multi-UAV cooperative attacks.

Multi-UAV Collaborative Mission Planning Method for Self-Organized Sensor Data Acquisition

In recent years,sensor technology has been widely used in the defense and control of sensitive areas in cities,or in various scenarios such as early warning of forest fires,monitoring of forest pests and diseases,and protection of endangered animals.Deploying sensors to collect data and then utilizing unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)to collect the data stored in the sensors has replaced traditional manual data collection as the dominant method.The current strategies for efficient data collection in above scenarios are still imperfect,and the low quality of the collected data and the excessive energy consumed by UAV flights are still the main problems faced in data collection.With regards this,this paper proposes a multi-UAV mission planning method for self-organized sensor data acquisition by comprehensively utilizing the techniques of self-organized sensor clustering,multi-UAV mission area allocation,and sub-area data acquisition scheme optimization.The improvedα-hop clustering method utilizes the average transmission distance to reduce the size of the collection sensors,and the K-Dimensional method is used to form a multi-UAV cooperative workspace,and then,the genetic algorithm is used to trade-off the speed with the age of information(AoI)of the collected information and the energy consumption to form the multi-UAV data collection operation scheme.The combined optimization scheme in paper improves the performance by 95.56%and 58.21%,respectively,compared to the traditional baseline model.In order to verify the excellent generalization and applicability of the proposed method in real scenarios,the simulation test is conducted by introducing the digital elevation model data of the real terrain,and the results show that the relative error values of the proposed method and the performance test of the actual flight of the UAV are within the error interval of±10%.Then,the advantages and disadvantages of the present method with the existing mainstream schemes are tested,and the results show that the present method has a huge advantage in terms of space and time complexity,and at the same time,the accuracy for data extraction is relatively improved by 10.46%and 12.71%.Finally,by eliminating the clustering process and the subtask assignment process,the AoI performance decreases by 3.46×and 4.45×,and the energy performance decreases by 3.52×and 4.47×.This paper presents a comprehensive and detailed proactive optimization of the existing challenges faced in the field of data acquisition by means of a series of combinatorial optimizations.

ACS-based resource assignment and task scheduling in grid

To solve the deadlock problem of tasks that the interdependence between tasks fails to consider during the course of resource assignment and task scheduling based on the heuristics algorithm, an improved ant colony system （ACS） based algorithm is proposed. First, how to map the resource assignment and task scheduling （RATS） problem into the optimization selection problem of task resource assignment graph （TRAG） and to add the semaphore mechanism in the optimal TRAG to solve deadlocks are explained. Secondly, how to utilize the grid pheromone system model to realize the algorithm based on ACS is explicated. This refers to the construction of TRAG by the random selection of appropriate resources for each task by the user agent and the optimization of TRAG through the positive feedback and distributed parallel computing mechanism of the ACS. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is effective and efficient in solving the deadlock problem.

Task assignment under constraint of timing sequential for cooperative air combat

According to the previous achievement, the task assignment under the constraint of timing continuity for a cooperative air combat is studied. An extensive task assignment scenario with the background of the cooperative air combat is proposed. The utility and time of executing a task as well as the continuous combat ability are defined. The concept of the matching method of weapon and target is modified based on the analysis of the air combat scenario. The constraint framework is also redefined according to a new objective function. The constraints of timing and continuity are formulated with a new method, at the same time, the task assignment and integer programming models of the cooperative combat are established. Finally, the assignment problem is solved using the integrated linear programming software and the simulation shows that it is feasible to apply this modified model in the cooperative air combat for tasks cooperation and it is also efficient to optimize the resource assignment.

Multi-Objective Task Assignment for Maximizing Social Welfare in Spatio-Temporal Crowdsourcing

With the development of the Internet of Things(IoT),spatio-temporal crowdsourcing(mobile crowdsourcing)has become an emerging paradigm for addressing location-based sensing tasks.However,the delay caused by network transmission has led to low data processing efficiency.Fortunately,edge computing can solve this problem,effectively reduce the delay of data transmission,and improve data processing capacity,so that the crowdsourcing platform can make better decisions faster.Therefore,this paper combines spatio-temporal crowdsourcing and edge computing to study the Multi-Objective Optimization Task Assignment(MOO-TA)problem in the edge computing environment.The proposed online incentive mechanism considers the task difficulty attribute to motivate crowd workers to perform sensing tasks in the unpopular area.In this paper,the Weighted and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Combination(WAMOPSC)algorithm is proposed to maximize both platform’s and crowd workers’utility,so as to maximize social welfare.The algorithm combines the traditional Linear Weighted Summation(LWS)algorithm and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization(MOPSO)algorithm to find pareto optimal solutions of multi-objective optimization task assignment problem as much as possible for crowdsourcing platform to choose.Through comparison experiments on real data sets,the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method are evaluated.

Dependent task assignment algorithm based on particle swarm optimization and simulated annealing in ad-hoc mobile cloud

In order to solve the problem of efficiently assigning tasks in an ad-hoc mobile cloud( AMC),a task assignment algorithm based on the heuristic algorithm is proposed. The proposed task assignment algorithm based on particle swarm optimization and simulated annealing( PSO-SA) transforms the dependencies between tasks into a directed acyclic graph( DAG) model. The number in each node represents the computation workload of each task and the number on each edge represents the workload produced by the transmission. In order to simulate the environment of task assignment in AMC,mathematical models are developed to describe the dependencies between tasks and the costs of each task are defined. PSO-SA is used to make the decision for task assignment and for minimizing the cost of all devices,which includes the energy consumption and time delay of all devices.PSO-SA also takes the advantage of both particle swarm optimization and simulated annealing by selecting an optimal solution with a certain probability to avoid falling into local optimal solution and to guarantee the convergence speed. The simulation results show that compared with other existing algorithms,the PSO-SA has a smaller cost and the result of PSO-SA can be very close to the optimal solution.

Multi-stage online task assignment driven by offline data under spatio-temporal crowdsourcing

In the era of the Internet of Things(IoT),the crowdsourcing process is driven by data collected by devices that interact with each other and with the physical world.As a part of the IoT ecosystem,task assignment has become an important goal of the research community.Existing task assignment algorithms can be categorized as offline(performs better with datasets but struggles to achieve good real-life results)or online(works well with real-life input but is difficult to optimize regarding in-depth assignments).This paper proposes a Cross-regional Online Task(CROT)assignment problem based on the online assignment model.Given the CROT problem,an Online Task Assignment across Regions based on Prediction(OTARP)algorithm is proposed.OTARP is a two-stage graphics-driven bilateral assignment strategy that uses edge cloud and graph embedding to complete task assignments.The first stage uses historical data to make offline predictions,with a graph-driven method for offline bipartite graph matching.The second stage uses a bipartite graph to complete the online task assignment process.This paper proposes accelerating the task assignment process through multiple assignment rounds and optimizing the process by combining offline guidance and online assignment strategies.To encourage crowd workers to complete crowd tasks across regions,an incentive strategy is designed to encourage crowd workers’movement.To avoid the idle problem in the process of crowd worker movement,a drop-by-rider problem is used to help crowd workers accept more crowd tasks,optimize the number of assignments,and increase utility.Finally,through comparison experiments on real datasets,the performance of the proposed algorithm on crowd worker utility value and the matching number is evaluated.

Multilevel manufacturing system of virtual enterprise based on manufacturing grid and strategies for member enterprise selection and task assignment

In order to improve efficiency of virtual enterprise, a manufacturing grid and multilevel manufacturing system of virtual enterprise is built up. When selecting member enterprises and task assignment based on the manufacturing grid, key activities are assigned to the suitable critical member enterprises by task decomposition, enterprise node searching and characteristic matching of manufacturing resources according to the characteristic matching strategy. By task merger, some ordinary activities are merged with corresponding key activities and assigned to corresponding critical member enterprises. However, the other ordinary activities are assigned to the related ordinary member enterprises with enterprise node searching and characteristic matching of manufacturing resources. Finally, an example of developing the artificial hip joint in the virtual enterprise is used to demonstrate that efficiency of the virtual enterprise is improved by using the manufacturing grid and the proposed strategies for member enterprise selection and task assignment.

Assigning Task by Parallel Genetic Algorithm Based on PVM

Genetic algorithm has been proposed to solve the problem of task assignment. However, it has some drawbacks, e.g., it often takes a long time to find an optimal solution, and the success rate is low. To overcome these problems, a new coarse grained parallel genetic algorithm with the scheme of central migration is presented, which exploits isolated sub populations. The new approach has been implemented in the PVM environment and has been evaluated on a workstation network for solving the task assignment problem. The results show that it not only significantly improves the result quality but also increases the speed for getting best solution.

Task Assignment Problem of Robots in a Smart Warehouse Environment

The task assignment problem of robots in a smart warehouse environment （TARSWE） based on cargo-to-person is investigated. Firstly, the sites of warehouse robots and the order picking tasks are given and the task assignment problem for picking one order is formulated into a mathematical model to minimize the total operation cost. Then a heuristic algorithm is designed to solve the task assignment problem for picking multiple orders. Finally, simulations are done by using the orders data of online bookstore A. The results show that using the heuristic algorithm of this paper to assign robots, the cost was reduced by 2% and it can effectively avoid far route and unbalanced workload of robots. The feasibility and validity of the model and algorithm are verified. The model and algorithm in this paper provide a theoretical basis to solve the TARSWE.

Streamlining the Writing and Tutoring Process of English Major Theses With Stringent Tasks and Procedures

English thesis writing and tutoring process is traditionally loose and open-ended. Both students and teachers enjoy much liberty in the maneuver of different steps in the whole process, which, as it were, may cause a series of problems and dissatisfactions, consequently undermining the quality and significance. This paper is intended to explore a streamlined and systematic procedure to ensure both the students and teachers are doing their bit and make due contribution to the thesis perfection.

Task Assignment for Forest Fire Suppression by Multiple UAVs

This paper presents a scenario of forest fire suppression using UAVs （Unmanned Aerial Vehicles） and addresses task assignment algorithm to coordinate UAVs. Forest fires are a major problem in many nations and fast extinguishing forest fires brings a lot of ecological advantages so proper use of firefighting resources is very critical. In this sense, multi UAVs forest fire suppression system can be effective way to prevent fire outbreaks. In multi agent system, an appropriate task assignment according to the SA （Situational Awareness） is the most essential to conduct mission. We should consider real time re-planning or re-scheduling of multi UAVs team because environmental situations such as wind are changeable and that changes affect the forest fire spreading. Furthermore, we have to think about convergence to a consistent SA because it may take too much time. CBBA （Consensus-Based Bundle Algorithm） is robust decentralized task assignment tool so it can be implemented in real time re-planning application. A simulation model which is the main topic in this paper shows that multi UAVs can be properly operated to suppress forest fires even if there are unpredictable random factors and partial disconnection. The simulation model includes concrete operating scenarios and recursive task re-assign algorithm until fires in the whole area are suppressed.

Enhancing Task Assignment in Crowdsensing Systems Based on Sensing Intervals and Location

The popularity of mobile devices with sensors is captivating the attention of researchers to modern techniques,such as the internet of things(IoT)and mobile crowdsensing(MCS).The core concept behind MCS is to use the power of mobile sensors to accomplish a difficult task collaboratively,with each mobile user completing much simpler micro-tasks.This paper discusses the task assignment problem in mobile crowdsensing,which is dependent on sensing time and path planning with the constraints of participant travel distance budgets and sensing time intervals.The goal is to minimize aggregate sensing time for mobile users,which reduces energy consumption to encourage more participants to engage in sensing activities and maximize total task quality.This paper introduces a two-phase task assignment framework called location time-based algorithm(LTBA).LTBA is a framework that enhances task assignment in MCS,whereas assigning tasks requires overlapping time intervals between tasks and mobile users’tasks and the location of tasks and mobile users’paths.The process of assigning the nearest task to the mobile user’s current path depends on the ant colony optimization algorithm(ACO)and Euclidean distance.LTBA combines two algorithms:(1)greedy online allocation algorithm and(2)bio-inspired traveldistance-balance-based algorithm(B-DBA).The greedy algorithm was sensing time interval-based and worked on reducing the overall sensing time of the mobile user.B-DBA was location-based and worked on maximizing total task quality.The results demonstrate that the average task quality is 0.8158,0.7093,and 0.7733 for LTBA,B-DBA,and greedy,respectively.The sensing time was reduced to 644,1782,and 685 time units for LTBA,B-DBA,and greedy,respectively.Combining the algorithms improves task assignment in MCS for both total task quality and sensing time.The results demonstrate that combining the two algorithms in LTBA is the best performance for total task quality and total sensing time,and the greedy algorithm follows it then B-DBA.

Learning Scalable Task Assignment with Imperative-Priori Conflict Resolution in Multi-UAV Adversarial Swarm Defense Problem

The multi-UAV adversary swarm defense(MUASD)problem is to defend a static base against an adversary UAV swarm by a defensive UAV swarm.Decomposing the problem into task assignment and low-level interception strategies is a widely used approach.Learning-based approaches for task assignment are a promising direction.Existing studies on learning-based methods generally assume decentralized decision-making architecture,which is not beneficial for conflict resolution.In contrast,centralized decision-making architecture is beneficial for conflict resolution while it is often detrimental to scalability.To achieve scalability and conflict resolution simultaneously,inspired by a self-attention-based task assignment method for sensor target coverage problem,a scalable centralized assignment method based on self-attention mechanism together with a defender-attacker pairwise observation preprocessing(DAP-SelfAtt)is proposed.Then,an imperative-priori conflict resolution(IPCR)mechanism is proposed to achieve conflict-free assignment.Further,the IPCR mechanism is parallelized to enable efficient training.To validate the algorithm,a variant of proximal policy optimization algorithm(PPO)is employed for training in scenarios of various scales.The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm not only achieves conflict-free task assignment but also maintains scalability,and significantly improve the success rate of defense.

Joint resource allocation for hybrid NOMA-assisted MEC in 6G networks

Multi-access Edge Computing(MEC)is an essential technology for expanding computing power of mobile devices,which can combine the Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access(NOMA)in the power domain to multiplex signals to improve spectral efficiency.We study the integration of the MEC with the NOMA to improve the computation service for the Beyond Fifth-Generation(B5G)and the Sixth-Generation(6G)wireless networks.This paper aims to minimize the energy consumption of a hybrid NOMA-assisted MEC system.In a hybrid NOMA system,a user can offload its task during a time slot shared with another user by the NOMA,and then upload the remaining data during an exclusive time duration served by Orthogonal Multiple Access(OMA).The original energy minimization problem is non-convex.To efficiently solve it,we first assume that the user grouping is given,and focuses on the one group case.Then,a multilevel programming method is proposed to solve the non-convex problem by decomposing it into three subproblems,i.e.,power allocation,time slot scheduling,and offloading task assignment,which are solved optimally by carefully studying their convexity and monotonicity.The derived solution is optimal to the original problem by substituting the closed expressions obtained from those decomposed subproblems.Furthermore,we investigate the multi-user case,in which a close-to-optimal algorithm with lowcomplexity is proposed to form users into different groups with unique time slots.The simulation results verify the superior performance of the proposed scheme compared with some benchmarks,such as OMA and pure NOMA.

Optimization of Web Service Testing Task Assignment in Crowdtesting Environment

Crowdtesting has emerged as an attractive and economical testing paradigm that features testers from different countries,with various backgrounds and working conditions.Recent developments in crowdsourcing testing suggest that it is feasible to manage test populations and processes,but they are often outside the scope of standard testing theory.This paper explores how to allocate service-testing tasks to proper testers in an ever-changing crowdsourcing environment.We formalize it as an optimization problem with the objective to ensure the testing quality of the crowds,while considering influencing factors such as knowledge capability,the rewards,the network connections,and the geography and the skills required.To solve the proposed problem,we design a task assignment algorithm based on the Differential Evolution(DE)algorithm.Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in real and synthetic data,and the results show better performance compared with other heuristic-based algorithms.

An adaptive distributed auction algorithm and its application to multi-AUV task assignment

The task assignment of multi-agent system has attracted considerable attention;however,the contradiction between computational complexity and assigning performance remains to be resolved.In this paper,a novel consensus-based adaptive optimization auction(CAOA)algorithm is proposed to greatly reduce the computation load while attaining enhanced system payoff.A new optimization scheme is designed to optimize the critical control parameter in the price update role of auction algorithm which can reduce the searching complexity in obtaining a better bidding price.With this new scheme,the CAOA algorithm is designed.Then the developed algorithm is applied to the multi-AUV task assignment problem for underwater detection mission in complex environments.The simulation and comparison studies verify the effectiveness and advantage of the CAOA algorithm.

A dynamic task assignment model for aviation emergency rescue based on multi-agent reinforcement learning

China's natural disaster situation presents a complex and severe scenario, resulting in substantial human and material losses as a result of large-scale emergencies. Recognizing the significance of aviation emergency rescue, the state provides strong support for its development. However, China's current aviation emergency rescue system is still under construction and encounters various challenges;one such challenge is to match the dynamically changing multi-point rescue demands with the limited availability of aircraft dispatch. We propose a dynamic task assignment model and a trainable model framework for aviation emergency rescue based on multi-agent reinforcement learning. Combined with a targeted design, the scheduling matching problem is transformed into a stochastic game process from the rescue location perspective. Subsequently, an optimized strategy model with high robustness can be obtained by solving the training framework. Comparative experiments demonstrate that the proposed model is able to achieve higher assignment benefits by considering the dynamic nature of rescue demands and the limited availability of rescue helicopter crews. Additionally, the model is able to achieve higher task assignment rates and average time satisfaction by assigning tasks in a more efficient and timely manner. The results suggest that the proposed dynamic task assignment model is a promising approach for improving the efficiency of aviation emergency rescue.