Using the Pilot Method as a Problem-Independent Metaheuristic for Multi-objective Beam Search
摘要
This paper proposes a combination of multi-objective beam search and the pilot method. The idea is to use the pilot method as a problem-independent metaheuristic to guide the search process of multi-objective beam search. Through this combination, the newly created search algorithm is less dependent on problem specific heuristics, which would otherwise be required to guide the search process. Especially when dealing with problems where no well-known heuristic functions exist this approach can be feasible. It must be noted, that in this situation, the design of the required heuristic functions is a challenging task because a deep understanding of the underlying problem as well as the chosen search algorithm is required. The proposed methodology does not use multiple heuristic functions to evaluate nodes. Instead, a sub search process in the form of the pilot method is started to obtain an estimation for the node’s quality. This sub search process is a single target search process and can only provide an estimation for one of the problems target functions. Therefore, the target functions are now also used as heuristic functions. Applying this new search algorithm to well-known benchmark problems yielded promising results and generates high quality solutions compared with current state-of-the-art algorithms.