Q. What is Genetic Algorithm. Show with an example.
Ans. Genetic Algorithm (GA) is a search-based optimization technique based on the
principles of Genetics and Natural Selection given by Charles Darwin. It is frequently used
to find optimal or near-optimal solutions to difficult problems which otherwise would take a
lifetime to solve. It is frequently used to solve optimization problems, in research, and in
machine learning.
Example:
Suppose there is equality a + 2b + 3c + 4d = 30, genetic algorithm will be used to find the
value of a, b, c, and d that satisfy the above equation. First, we should formulate the
objective function, for this problem the objective is minimizing the value of function f(x) where
f(x) = ((a + 2b + 3c + 4d) - 30). Since there are four variables in the equation, namely a, b, c,
and d, we can compose the chromosome as follow: To speed up the computation, we can
restrict that the values of variables a, b, c, and d are integers between 0 and 30.
Step 1. Initialization
For example, we define the number of chromosomes in population are 6, then we generate
random value of gene a, b, c, d for 6 chromosomes
Chromosome[1] = [a ;b ;c ;d] = [12 ;05 ;23; 08]
Chromosome[2] = [a ;b ;c ;d] = [02 ;21 ;18 ;03]
Chromosome[3] = [a ;b ;c ;d] = [10 ;04 ;13 ;14]
Chromosome[4] = [a ;b ;c ;d] = [20 ;01 ;10 ;06]
Chromosome[5] = [a ;b ;c ;d] = [01 ;04 ;13 ;19]
Chromosome[6] = [a ;b ;c ;d] = [20 ;05 ;17 ;01]
Step 2. Evaluation
We compute the objective function value for each chromosome produced in initialization
step:
F_obj[1] = Abs(( 12 + 2*05 + 3*23 + 4*08 ) - 30) = Abs((12 + 10 + 69 + 32 ) - 30)
= Abs(123 - 30) = 93
F_obj[2] = Abs((02 + 2*21 + 3*18 + 4*03) - 30) = Abs((02 + 42 + 54 + 12) - 30)
= Abs(110 - 30) = 80
F_obj[3] = Abs((10 + 2*04 + 3*13 + 4*14) - 30) = Abs((10 + 08 + 39 + 56) - 30)
= Abs(113 - 30) = 83
F_obj[4] = Abs((20 + 2*01 + 3*10 + 4*06) - 30) = Abs((20 + 02 + 30 + 24) - 30)
= Abs(76 - 30) = 46
F_obj[5] = Abs((01 + 2*04 + 3*13 + 4*19) - 30) = Abs((01 + 08 + 39 + 76) - 30)
= Abs(124 - 30) = 94
F_obj[6] = Abs((20 + 2*05 + 3*17 + 4*01) - 30) = Abs((20 + 10 + 51 + 04) - 30)
= Abs(85 - 30) = 55
Step 3. Selection
1. The fittest chromosomes have higher probability to be selected for the next generation. To
compute fitness probability, we must compute the fitness of each chromosome. To avoid
divide by zero problem, the value of F_obj is added by 1. Fitness[1] = 1 / (1+F_obj[1]) = 1 /
94 = 0.0106
Fitness[2] = 1 / (1+F_obj[2]) = 1 / 81 = 0.0123
Fitness[3] = 1 / (1+F_obj[3]) = 1 / 84 = 0.0119
Fitness[4] = 1 / (1+F_obj[4]) = 1 / 47 = 0.0213
Fitness[5] = 1 / (1+F_obj[5]) = 1 / 95 = 0.0105
Fitness[6] = 1 / (1+F_obj[6]) = 1 / 56 = 0.0179
Total = 0.0106 + 0.0123 + 0.0119 + 0.0213 + 0.0105 + 0.0179 = 0.0845 The probability for
each chromosome is formulated by: P[i] = Fitness[i] / Total
P[1] = 0.0106 / 0.0845 = 0.1254
P[2] = 0.0123 / 0.0845 = 0.1456
P[3] = 0.0119 / 0.0845 = 0.1408
P[4] = 0.0213 / 0.0845 = 0.2521
P[5] = 0.0105 / 0.0845 = 0.1243
P[6] = 0.0179 / 0.0845 = 0.2118
From the probabilities above we can see that Chromosome 4 that has the highest fitness,
this chromosome has highest probability to be selected for next generation chromosomes.
For the selection process we use roulette wheel, for that we should compute the cumulative
probability values:
C[1] = 0.1254
C[2] = 0.1254 + 0.1456 = 0.2710
C[3] = 0.1254 + 0.1456 + 0.1408 = 0.4118
C[4] = 0.1254 + 0.1456 + 0.1408 + 0.2521 = 0.6639
C[5] = 0.1254 + 0.1456 + 0.1408 + 0.2521 + 0.1243 = 0.7882
C[6] = 0.1254 + 0.1456 + 0.1408 + 0.2521 + 0.1243 + 0.2118 = 1.0
Having calculated the cumulative probability of selection process using roulette-wheel can be
done. The process is to generate random number R in the range 0-1 as follows.
R[1] = 0.201
R[2] = 0.284
R[3] = 0.099
R[4] = 0.822
R[5] = 0.398
R[6] = 0.501
If random number R[1] is greater than C[1] and smaller than C[2] then select Chromosome[2]
as a chromosome in the new population for next generation: NewChromosome[1] =
Chromosome[2]
NewChromosome[2] = Chromosome[3]
NewChromosome[3] = Chromosome[1]
NewChromosome[4] = Chromosome[6]
NewChromosome[5] = Chromosome[3]
NewChromosome[6] = Chromosome[4]
Chromosomes in the population thus became:
Chromosome[1] = [02;21;18;03]
Chromosome[2] = [10;04;13;14]
Chromosome[3] = [12;05;23;08]
Chromosome[4] = [20;05;17;01]
Chromosome[5] = [10;04;13;14]
Chromosome[6] = [20;01;10;06]
In this example, we use one-cut point, i.e. randomly select a position in the parent
chromosome then exchanging sub-chromosome. Parent chromosome which will mate is
randomly selected and the number of mate Chromosomes is controlled using crossover_rate
(ρc) parameters.
For random number R above, parents are Chromosome[1], Chromosome[4] and
Chromosome[5] will be selected for crossover.
Chromosome[1] >< Chromosome[4]
Chromosome[4] >< Chromosome[5]
Chromosome[5] >< Chromosome[1]
After chromosome selection, the next process is determining the position of the crossover
point. This is done by generating random numbers between 1 to (length of Chromosome –
1). In this case, generated random numbers should be between 1 and 3. After we get the
crossover point, parents Chromosome will be cut at crossover point and its gens will be
interchanged. For example, we generated 3 random number and we get:
C[1] = 1
C[2] = 1
C[3] = 2
Then for first crossover, second crossover and third crossover, parent’s gens will be cut at
gen number 1, gen number 1 and gen number 3 respectively, e.g. Chromosome[1] =
Chromosome[1] >< Chromosome[4]
= [02;21;18;03] >< [20;05;17;01]
= [02;05;17;01]
Chromosome[4] = Chromosome[4] >< Chromosome[5]
= [20;05;17;01] >< [10;04;13;14]
= [20;04;13;14]
Chromosome[5] = Chromosome[5] >< Chromosome[1]
= [10;04;13;14] >< [02;21;18;03]
= [10;04;18;03]
Thus, Chromosome population after experiencing a crossover process: Chromosome[1] =
[02;05;17;01]
Chromosome[2] = [10;04;13;14]
Chromosome[3] = [12;05;23;08]
Chromosome[4] = [20;04;13;14]
Chromosome[5] = [10;04;18;03]
Chromosome[6] = [20;01;10;06]
Step 5. Mutation
Number of chromosomes that have mutations in a population is determined by the
mutation_rate parameter. Mutation process is done by replacing the gen at random position
with a new value. The process is as follows. First, we must calculate the total length of gen in
the population. In this case the total length of gen is
total_gen = number_of_gen_in_Chromosome * number of population
= 4 * 6 = 24
Mutation process is done by generating a random integer between 1 and total_gen (1 to 24).
If generated random number is smaller than mutation_rate(ρm) variable then marked the
position of gen in chromosomes. Suppose we define ρm 10%, it is expected that 10% (0.1) of
total_gen in the population that will be mutated: number of mutations = 0.1 * 24
= 2.4 ≈ 2
Suppose generation of random number yield 12 and 18 then the chromosome which have
mutation are Chromosome number 3 gen number 4 and Chromosome 5 gen number 2. The
value of mutated gens at mutation point is replaced by random number between 0-30.
Suppose generated random number are 2 and 5 then Chromosome composition after
mutation are:
Chromosome[1] = [02;05;17;01]
Chromosome[2] = [10;04;13;14]
Chromosome[3] = [12;05;23;02]
Chromosome[4] = [20;04;13;14]
Chromosome[5] = [10;05;18;03]
Chromosome[6] = [20;01;10;06]
Finishing mutation process then we have one iteration or one generation of the genetic
algorithm. We can now evaluate the objective function after one generation: Chromosome[1]
= [02;05;17;01] F_obj[1] = Abs(( 02 + 2*05 + 3*17 + 4*01 ) - 30)
= Abs((2 + 10 + 51 + 4 ) - 30) = Abs(67 - 30) = 37
Chromosome[2] = [10;04;13;14] F_obj[2] = Abs(( 10 + 2*04 + 3*13 + 4*14 ) - 30)
= Abs((10 + 8 + 33 + 56 ) - 30) = Abs(107 - 30) = 77
Chromosome[3] = [12;05;23;02] F_obj[3] = Abs(( 12 + 2*05 + 3*23 + 4*02 ) - 30)
= Abs((12 + 10 + 69 + 8 ) - 30) = Abs(87 - 30) = 47
Chromosome[4] = [20;04;13;14] F_obj[4] = Abs(( 20 + 2*04 + 3*13 + 4*14 ) - 30)
= Abs((20 + 8 + 39 + 56 ) - 30) = Abs(123 - 30) = 93
Chromosome[5] = [10;05;18;03] F_obj[5] = Abs(( 10 + 2*05 + 3*18 + 4*03 ) - 30)
= Abs((10 + 10 + 54 + 12 ) - 30) = Abs(86 - 30) = 56
Chromosome[6] = [20;01;10;06] F_obj[6] = Abs(( 20 + 2*01 + 3*10 + 4*06 ) - 30) = Abs((20 +
2 + 30 + 24 ) - 30) = Abs(76 - 30) = 46
From the evaluation of new Chromosome we can see that the objective function is
decreasing, this means that we have better Chromosome or solution compared with previous
Chromosome generation. New Chromosomes for next iteration are: Chromosome[1] =
[02;05;17;01]
Chromosome[2] = [10;04;13;14]
Chromosome[3] = [12;05;23;02]
Chromosome[4] = [20;04;13;14]
Chromosome[5] = [10;05;18;03]
Chromosome[6] = [20;01;10;06]
These new Chromosomes will undergo the same process as the previous generation of
Chromosomes such as evaluation, selection, crossover and mutation and at the end it
produces new generation of Chromosome for the next iteration. This process will be repeated
until a predetermined number of generations. For this example, after running 50 generations,
best chromosome is obtained:
Chromosome = [07; 05; 03; 01]
This means that: a = 7, b = 5, c = 3, d = 1
If we use the number in the problem equation:
a + 2b + 3c + 4d = 30
7 + (2 * 5) + (3 * 3) + (4 * 1) = 30
We can see that the value of variable a, b, c and d generated by genetic algorithm can satisfy
that equality.
