Alexander Asteroth

Training plan evolution based on training models

Training models have been proposed to model the effect of physical strain on fitness. In this work we explore their use not only for analysis but also to generate training plans to achieve a given fitness goal. These plans have to include side constraints such as, e.g., maximal training loads. Therefore plan generation can be treated as a constraint satisfaction problem and thus can be solved by classical CSP solvers. We show that evolutionary algorithms such as differential evolution or CMA-ES produce comparable results while allowing for more flexibility and requiring less computational resources. Due to this flexibility, it is possible to include well known principles of training science during plan generation, resulting in reasonable training plans.

How to successfully apply genetic algorithms in practice: Representation and parametrization

Evolutionary computation and genetic algorithms (GAs) in particular have been applied very successfully to many real world application problems. However, the success or failure of applying Genetic Algorithms is highly dependent on how a problem is represented. Additionally, the number of free parameters makes applying these methods a science of its own, presenting a huge barrier to entry for beginners. This tutorial will give a summary on various representational aspects, discuss parametrization and their influence on the dynamics of GAs.

On modeling the cardiovascular system and predicting the human heart rate under strain

With the increasing average age of the population in many developed countries, afflictions like cardiovascular diseases have also increased. Exercising has a proven therapeutic effect on the cardiovascular system and can counteract this development. To avoid overstrain, determining an optimal training dose is crucial. In previous research, heart rate has been shown to be a good measure for cardiovascular behavior. Hence, prediction of the heart rate from work load information is an essential part in models used for training control. Most heart-rate-based models are described in the context of specific scenarios, and have been evaluated on unique datasets only. In this paper, we conduct a joint evaluation of existing approaches to model the cardiovascular system under a certain strain, and compare their predictive performance. For this purpose, we investigated some analytical models as well as some machine learning approaches in two scenarios: prediction over a certain time horizon into the future, and estimation of the relation between work load and heart rate over a whole training session.

Evolution of optimal control for energy-efficient transport

An evolutionary algorithm is presented to solve the optimal control problem for energy optimal driving. Results show that the algorithm computes equivalent strategies as traditional graph searching approaches like dynamic programming or A*. The algorithm proves to be time efficient while saving multiple orders of magnitude in memory compared to graph searching techniques. Thereby making it applicable in embedded applications such as eco-driving assistants or intelligent route planning.

Multi-stage evolution of single- and multi-objective MCLP: Successive placement of charging stations

Maximal covering location problems have efficiently been solved using evolutionary computation. The multi-stage placement of charging stations for electric cars is an instance of this problem which is addressed in this study. It is particularly challenging, because a final solution is constructed in multiple steps, stations cannot be relocated easily and intermediate solutions should be optimal with respect to certain objectives. This paper is an extended version of work published in Spieker et al. (Innovations in intelligent systems and applications (INISTA), 2015 international symposium on. IEEE, pp 1–7, 2015). In this work, it was shown that through problem decomposition, an incremental genetic algorithm benefits from having multiple intermediate stages. On the other hand, a decremental strategy does not profit from reduced computational complexity. We extend our previous work by including multi-objective optimization of multi-stage charging station placement, allowing us to not only optimize toward (weighted) demand location coverage, but also to include a second objective, taking into account traffic density. It is shown that the reachable part of the full Pareto front at each stage is bound by the solution that was chosen from the respective previous front. By careful choice of the selection strategy, a particular focus can be set. This can be exploited to comply with concrete implementation goals and to adjust the evolved strategy to both static and dynamic changes in requirements.

Evolving parsimonious networks by mixing activation functions

Neuroevolution methods evolve the weights of a neural network, and in some cases the topology, but little work has been done to analyze the effect of evolving the activation functions of individual nodes on network size, an important factor when training networks with a small number of samples. In this work we extend the neuroevolution algorithm NEAT to evolve the activation function of neurons in addition to the topology and weights of the network. The size and performance of networks produced using NEAT with uniform activation in all nodes, or homogenous networks, is compared to networks which contain a mixture of activation functions, or heterogenous networks. For a number of regression and classification benchmarks it is shown that, (1) qualitatively different activation functions lead to different results in homogeneous networks, (2) the heterogeneous version of NEAT is able to select well performing activation functions, (3) the produced heterogeneous networks are significantly smaller than homogeneous networks.

Aerodynamic Design Exploration through Surrogate-Assisted Illumination

A new method for design space exploration and optimization, Surrogate-Assisted Illumination (SAIL), is presented. Inspired by robotics techniques designed to produce diverse repertoires of behaviors for use in damage recovery, SAIL produces diverse designs that vary according to features specified by the designer. By producing high-performing designs with varied combinations of user-defined features a map of the design space is created. This map illuminates the relationship between the chosen features and performance, and can aid designers in identifying promising design concepts. SAIL is designed for use with compu-tationally expensive design problems, such as fluid or structural dynamics, and integrates approximative models and intelligent sampling of the objective function to minimize the number of function evaluations required. On a 2D airfoil optimization problem SAIL is shown to produce hundreds of diverse designs which perform competitively with those found by state-of-the-art black box optimization. Its capabilities are further illustrated in a more expensive 3D aerodynamic optimization task.

A Convolution Model for Heart Rate Prediction in Physical Exercise

During exercise, heart rate has proven to be a good measure in planning workouts. It is not only simple to measure but also well understood and has been used for many years for workout planning. To use heart rate to control physical exercise, a model which predicts future heart rate dependent on a given strain can be utilized. In this paper, we present a mathematical model based on convolution for predicting the heart rate response to strain with four physiologically explainable parameters. This model is based on the general idea of the Fitness-Fatigue model for performance analysis, but is revised here for heart rate analysis. Comparisons show that the Convolution model can compete with other known heart rate models. Furthermore, this new model can be improved by reducing the number of parameters. The remaining parameter seems to be a promising indicator of the actual subject’s fitness.

Successive evolution of charging station placement

An evolving strategy for a multi-stage placement of charging stations for electrical cars is developed. Both an incremental as well as a decremental placement decomposition are evaluated on this Maximum Covering Location Problem. We show that an incremental Genetic Algorithm benefits from problem decomposition effects of having multiple stages and shows greedy behaviour.

Modeling and Predicting the Human Heart Rate During Running Exercise

The positive influence of physical activity for people at all life stages is well known. Exercising has a proven therapeutic effect on the cardiovascular system and can counteract the increase of cardiovascular diseases in our aging society. An easy and good measure of the cardiovascular feedback is the heart rate. Being able to model and predict the response of a subject’s heart rate on work load input allows the development of more advanced smart devices and analytic tools. These tools can monitor and control the subject’s activity and thus avoid overstrain which would eliminate the positive effect on the cardiovascular system. Current heart rate models were developed for a specific scenario and evaluated on unique data sets only. Additionally, most of these models were tested in indoor environments, e.g. on treadmills and bicycle ergometers. However, many people prefer to do sports in outdoors environments and use their smart phone to record their training data. In this paper, we present an evaluation of existing heart rate models and compare their prediction performance for indoor as well as for outdoor running exercises. For this purpose, we investigate analytical models as well as machine learning approaches in two training sets: one indoor exercise set recorded on a treadmill and one outdoor exercise set recorded by a smart phone.