Hopfield Neural Network Method for Problem of Telescoping Path Optimization of Single-Cylinder Pin-Type Multisection Boom

Telescoping path optimization (TPO) of single-cylinder pin-type multisection boom (SPMB) is a practical engineering problem that is valuable to investigate. This article studies the TPO problem and finds the key of TPO is to obtain the maximum retraction backmost combination. A mathematic model on the basis of the quadratic penalty function of a Hopfield neural network (HNN) is constructed. Two strategies are presented to improve the performance of TPO model: one is proportional integral derivative (PID) strategy that adaptively adjusts the parameter λ of the constrained term and the parameter of the optimization objective term by controlling the value of constraint violation and the other is efficiency factor strategy that an efficiency factor is introduced in model for prioritizing the constrained term over the objective term. Data test shows that compared with the path of boom length changing before optimization, both the number of sections that need to be moved and the total travels of cylinder can be reduced by 10%-30% after optimization. Both the PID strategy and the efficiency factor strategy achieve good optimization effects. The efficiency factor strategy is excellent at moderating the conflicts between the constrained term and the objective term; thus the generations of the valid and the optimal solutions get well improved.