Time-varying multi-objective smart home appliances scheduling using fuzzy adaptive dynamic SPEA2 algorithm

Abstract

The smart city is an idea of upcoming revolution in cities, which includes smart home, smart mobility, smart living, and smart environment that can be operated using a smartphone connected to the internet. By adequately scheduling appliances, residential consumers can reduce their electricity expenses while increasing their comfort. Electricity cost and user comfort being conflicting in nature, can be formulated as a dynamic multi-objective optimization problem with varying user priority to use different home appliances at different times. Further to solve this problem, a Fuzzy Adaptive Dynamic SPEA2 with Borda Ranking Method (FDSPEA2-BR) is proposed based on the dynamic modification of popular SPEA2 algorithm. The algorithm includes an improved Borda count method along with Mamdani fuzzy rules to select the best solutions. The changes in crossover and mutation rate in the SPEA2 algorithm is now being controlled with fuzzy rules. Proposed FDSPEA2-BR is validated on fourteen benchmark dynamic multi-objective functions taken from the FDA, JY, dMOP, and DF test suites, results have validated the optimization model’s efficacy. Simulation study is performed on the scheduling of 11 smart home appliances varying over 10 time slots. The results in the form of time varying Pareto Fronts is demonstrated and the schedules corresponding to 5 diversified points on each Pareto Front are reported. The end user can make use of the optimized schedules that were thus obtained to modify his or her patterns of demand and energy use.