Modelling and prediction of complex non-linear processes by using Pareto multi-objective genetic programming

In this paper, a new multi-objective genetic programming (GP) with a diversity preserving mechanism and a real number alteration operator is presented and successfully used for Pareto optimal modelling of some complex non-linear systems using some input–output data. In this study, two different input–output data-sets of a non-linear mathematical model and of an explosive cutting process are considered separately in three-objective optimisation processes. The pertinent conflicting objective functions that have been considered for such Pareto optimisations are namely, training error (TE), prediction error (PE), and the length of tree (complexity of the network) (TL) of the GP models. Such three-objective optimisation implementations leads to some non-dominated choices of GP-type models for both cases representing the trade-offs among those objective functions. Therefore, optimal Pareto fronts of such GP models exhibit the trade-off among the corresponding conflicting objectives and, thus, provide different non-dominated optimal choices of GP-type models. Moreover, the results show that no significant optimality in TE and PE may occur when the TL of the corresponding GP model exceeds some values.