Design of an adaptive mutation operator in an electrical load management case study

An adequately designed and parameterized set of operators is crucial for an efficient behaviour of Genetic Algorithms (GAs). Several strategies have been adopted in order to better adapt parameters to the problem under resolution and to increase the algorithm's performance. One of these approaches consists in using operators presenting a dynamic behaviour, that is displaying a different qualitative behaviour in different stages of the evolutionary process. In this work a comparative analysis of the effects of using an adaptive mutation operator is presented in the operational framework of a multi-objective GA for the design and selection of electrical load management strategies. It is shown that the use of a time/space varying mutation operator depending on the values achieved for each objective function increases the performance of the algorithm.