Marcio Guerreiro

Advances in electronic systems, wireless communication protocols, and intelligent devices allowed the development of networks of mobile devices such as cars, drones, and robots. The field of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) comprises networks where the mobility of the devices is one of the fundamental elements that characterise these networks. However, the node’s mobility leads to constant changes in the network’s topology, representing a challenge to routing protocols designed for MANETs. Although there is effort from researchers to tackle the intricacies of routing protocols in MANETs, there is still room for improvement as new applications with challenging specifications continue to arise. This research enriches the existing theoretical perspective by presenting an innovative method for optimising the routing performance of the ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) protocol. Grounded on multi-objective metaheuristics, we aim to improve AODV’s routing recovery performance concerning routing delay, energy consumption, packet loss ratio, and route load metrics. To gauge the quality of our contribution, we compare its performance to the standard AODV, a mono-objective optimised AODV, and four other well-known routing protocols with different routing approaches. The results indicate that the proposed solution was superior to the original AODV with average improvements of 56.0%, 59.3%, 48.1% and 0.7% on route load, routing delay, packet loss ratio and energy consumption, respectively. It also presented competitive results compared to other routing protocols.

The sorting problem in the Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) has been used to address issues whose solutions involve the allocation of alternatives in classes. Traditional multi-criteria methods are commonly used for this task, such as ELECTRE TRI, AHP-Sort, UTADIS, PROMETHEE, GAYA, etc. While using these approaches to perform the sorting procedure, the decision-makers define profiles (thresholds) for classes to compare the alternatives within these profiles. However, most such applications are based on subjective tasks, i.e., decision-makers’ expertise, which sometimes might be imprecise. To fill that gap, in this paper, a comparative analysis using the multi-criteria method ELECTRE TRI and clustering algorithms is performed to obtain an auxiliary procedure to define initial thresholds for the ELECTRE TRI method. In this proposed methodology, K-Means, K-Medoids, Fuzzy C-Means algorithms, and Bio-Inspired metaheuristics such as PSO, Differential Evolution, and Genetic algorithm for clustering are tested considering a dataset from a fundamental problem of sorting in Water Distribution Networks. The computational performances indicate that Fuzzy C-Means was more suitable for achieving the desired response. The practical contributions show a relevant procedure to provide an initial view of boundaries in multi-criteria sorting methods based on the datasets from specific applications. Theoretically, it is a new development to pre-define the initial limits of classes for the sorting problem in multi-criteria approach.

Lithium-ion batteries are the current most promising device for electric vehicle applications. They have been widely used because of their advantageous features, such as high energy density, many cycles, and low self-discharge. One of the critical factors for the correct operation of an electric vehicle is the estimation of the battery charge state. In this sense, this work presents a comparison of the state of charge estimation (SoC), tested in four different conduction profiles in different temperatures, which was performed using the Multiple Linear Regression without (MLR) and with spline interpolation (SPL-MLR) and the Generalized Linear Model (GLM). The models were calibrated by three different bio-inspired optimization techniques: Genetic Algorithm (GA), Differential Evolution (DE), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The computational results showed that the MLR-PSO is the most suitable for SoC prediction, overcoming all other models and important proposals from the literature.

Over the years, cities have undergone transformations that, invariably, overload and even compromise the functioning of an energy matrix dependent on increasingly scarce resources. The high demand for energy has challenged stakeholders to invest in more sustainable alternatives, such as bioenergy, which, in addition, helps to reduce the pressure for finite resources, enable the energy recovery of waste and contribute to the mitigation of carbon emissions. For these improvements to be successful, stakeholders need specific technological strategies, requiring tools, methods and solutions that support the decision-making process. In this perspective, the current work aimed to develop a framework optimizing the evaluation of waste bioenergy projects through the application of algorithms. Therefore, a literature review was carried out to select the algorithms and identify the sectors/areas and stages in which they are applied. These algorithms were then grouped into two sequential phases. The first targeted the evaluation of region, based on the type and supply of biomass, while the second sought to optimize aspects related to infrastructure and logistics. Both phases were concluded with the application of multi-criteria methods, thus, identifying the areas/regions with the greatest potential for implementing bioenergy projects. In general, it was observed that there are different algorithms and multi-criteria analysis methods that can be suitable in bioenergy projects. They were used to identify and select the regions with the greatest potential for bioenergy plant implementation, focusing on the type, quantity and perpetuity of biomass supply, to assess the operational efficiency of machines, equipment, processes and to optimize the logistics chain, especially the collection and transport of biomass. Thus, the joint work between the use of algorithms and multi-criteria decision methods provides greater assertiveness in choices, helping to identify the most viable projects and mitigating risks and uncertainties for decision-makers.

This work aims to analyze two metaheuristics optimization techniques, Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), with six variations each, and compare them regarding their convergence, quality, and dispersion of solutions. The optimization target is the Gaussian Adaptive PID control (GAPID) to find the best parameters to achieve enhanced performance and robustness to load variations related to the traditional PID. The adaptive rule of GAPID is based on a Gaussian function that has as adjustment parameters its concavity and the lower and upper bound of the gains. It is a smooth function with smooth derivatives. As a result, it helps avoid problems related to abrupt increases transition, commonly found in other adaptive methods. Because there is no mathematical methodology to set these parameters, this work used bio-inspired optimization algorithms. The test plant is a DC motor with a beam with a variable load. Results obtained by load and gain sweep tests prove the GAPID presents fast responses with very low overshoot and good robustness to load changes, with minimal variations, which is impossible to achieve when using the linear PID.

In automotive industries, pricing anomalies may occur for components of different products, despite their similar physical characteristics, which raises the total production cost of the company. However, detecting such discrepancies is often neglected since it is necessary to find the problems considering the observation of thousands of pieces, which often present inconsistencies when specified by the product engineering team. In this investigation, we propose a solution for a real case study. We use as strategy a set of clustering algorithms to group components by similarity: K-Means, K-Medoids, Fuzzy C-Means (FCM), Hierarchical, Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN), Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Differential Evolution (DE). We observed that the methods could automatically perform the grouping of parts considering physical characteristics present in the material master data, allowing anomaly detection and identification, which can consequently lead to cost reduction. The computational results indicate that the Hierarchical approach presented the best performance on 1 of 6 evaluation metrics and was the second place on four others indexes, considering the Borda count method. The K-Medoids win for most metrics, but it was the second best positioned due to its bad performance regarding SI-index. By the end, this proposal allowed identify mistakes in the specification and pricing of some items in the company.