The modular physical user interface can be used for various interactive multiobjective
optimization methods available in DESDEO.
desdeo-frontend provides the graphical user interface (GUI) for such optimization methods.
desdeo-frontend is related to the ecosystem of packages
belonging to DESDEO. The GUI can be used to define, explore, and solve multiobjective optimization
problems of varying type interactively. desdeo-frontend has been developed as a React application
in TypeScript. desdeo-frontend is also an example on how the
interactive visualizations implemented in desdeo-components
may be used, and how the desdeo-webapi
API can be utilized in practice.
Before installing desdeo-frontend, make sure a server with
desdeo-webapi is first
installed and running, either locally or on some remote machine. To run it locally, follow the instructions
on desdeo-webapi's GitHub page.
From here on, it is assumed that a server is run locally with the address http://127.0.0.1:5000.
To install desdeo-frontend, make sure your system supports a Node.js environment and a
dependency manager, such as npm or yarn is available.
yarn is recommended as it has been tested to be working. From here on, it is assumed that yarn is available.
When Node.js is installed and a package manager is available, desdeo-frontend can be installed by running the
following commans:
$> git clone [email protected]:gialmisi/desdeo-frontend.git
$> cd desdeo-frontend
$> yarn install
To run the GUI application, first, make sure that the variable API_URL in src/App.tsx is set with a valid URL
(e.g., http://127.0.0.1:5000). Then, run the start script by issuing the command:
$> yarn run start
This should launch the GUI application in a new tab in your web browser.
The physical user interface utilizes the WebUSB API and works on Chrome. Please note that Firefox is not supported yet for our device. The USB device (Arduino) should be authourized to send commands to the browser. For authourization in setup in linux refer to: https://support.microbit.org/support/solutions/articles/19000105428-webusb-troubleshooting
Create a file in /etc/udev/rules.d named arduino.rules and add the following line:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="2341", ATTR{idProduct}=="8036", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
The rule file can be found in the chrome_rules folder.
First the modules should be arranged as per the decision maker's choice. After the arrangement in complete, simply connect any of the modules USB port to the computer via a USB 2.0 cable (micro B type). All the LED indicators on the modules should glow red denoting all are powered up. In case the USB port is unable to supply required current, connect the 5V power supply to the power port availble on the modules.
To use the GUI, a username and password are required. For locally running the GUI, a dummy user(s) with a password(s) can be set readily by utilzing the utilities provided in desdeo-webapi. After logging in, the navigation bar will update with menus to access various features of the GUI.
Currently, only a dummy problem can be defined through the interface. However, the intractive methods support
solving problems with both analytical formualtions and/or discrete formulations. Problems must currently be added
manually to the database in desdeo-webapi. See its documentation for additiona details.
Currently interfaces for the following multiobjective optimization methods have been implemented:
Interactive RVEA is based on the following work. Kindly refer to the paper for more details about the algorithm.
-
Cheng, R., Jin, Y., Olhofer, M., Sendhoff, B.: A reference vector guided evolutionary algorithm for many-objective optimization. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation 20(5), 773–791 (2016)
-
Hakanen, J., Chugh, T., Sindhya, K., Jin, Y., Miettinen, K.: Connections of reference vectors and different types of preference information in interactive multiobjective evolutionary algorithms. In: Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI). pp. 1–8 (2016)
You can solve the provided river pollution problem as of now.
After the modules has been connected to the computer a popup will appear showing new harware has been detected. In the visualization, press the connect button and choose the connected device and press the connect button. Next, press the Start button to begin the arrangement detection pocess. The detected arrangement of the modules will be displayed denoting the real world arrangement. Assign the fields on the modules to respective objective functions and buttons for starting iteration, stop, etc. The optimization process can now be started using the physical user interface.
- The visualization for the arrangment breaks when the number of modules is too high. Auto zooming should resolve this problem.
- The values of the reference point is set by activating the Set button repeatedly.
- If modules are rearranged, it is not always detected and the visulization has to restarted from the login page.
- Graphics of the modules could be improved.
- More algorithms, visualizations in objective and decision space, and problems should be added.
Below are listed the major contributors to desdeo-frontend. If you feel you should be part of this list, make a PR.
- Giovanni Misitano - maintainer
- Juuso Pajasmaa
- Stefan
- Atanu