## An Example Problem Requiring Scaling¶

Some systems may not be well-suited for numerical solution or optimization due to differences in magnitudes of their parameters. This problem can be addressed in OpenMDAO by setting scaler and adder values when adding parameters to a driver. To demonstrate this, let’s define a paraboloid function f, and minimize it with respect to two input variables, x and y. This function is given by

$f(x,y) = (1000x-3)^2 + (1000x)*(0.01y) + (0.01y+4)^2 - 3$

and is implemented as the following openMDAO component:

from openmdao.main.api import Assembly,Component
from openmdao.lib.drivers.api import SLSQPdriver
from openmdao.lib.datatypes.api import Float

class Paraboloid_scale(Component):
""" Evaluates the equation f(x,y) = (1000*x-3)^2 + (1000*x)*(0.01*y) + (0.01*y+4)^2 - 3 """

# set up interface to the framework
# pylint: disable-msg=E1101
x = Float(0.0, iotype='in', desc='The variable x')
y = Float(0.0, iotype='in', desc='The variable y')

f_xy = Float(iotype='out', desc='F(x,y)')

def execute(self):
"""f(x,y) = (x-3)^2 + xy + (y+4)^2 - 3
Optimal solution (minimum): x = 0.0066666666666666671; y = -733.33333333333337
"""

x = self.x
y = self.y

self.f_xy = (1000.*x-3.)**2 + (1000.*x)*(0.01*y) + (0.01*y+4.)**2 - 3.


It can be shown that f has a global minimum at x = 1/150 = 0.00666667 and y = -2200/3 = -733.333333. But it can also be shown that f is far more sensitive to variation in x than variation in y. Numerical optimization of f may not converge to the true minimum due to this difference in sensitivity, or it may require a large number of iterations to reach the true minimum compared to a well-scaled problem. Let’s show this using the following assembly:

class OptimizationUnconstrainedScale(Assembly):
"""Unconstrained optimization of the unscaled Paraboloid Component."""

def configure(self):
""" Creates a new Assembly containing an unscaled Paraboloid and an optimizer"""

# Create Optimizer instance

# Create Paraboloid component instances

# Driver process definition

# SQLSQP Flags
self.driver.iprint = 0

# Objective

# Design Variables


Running the optimization results in:

>>> import time
>>> opt_problem = OptimizationUnconstrainedScale()
>>> tt = time.time()
>>> opt_problem.run()
>>> print opt_problem.paraboloid.x,opt_problem.paraboloid.y
(0.006667, -733.334333)
>>> print "Elapsed time: ", time.time()-tt, "seconds"
Elapsed time:  0.0150000334249 seconds
>>> print "Execution count: ", opt_problem.paraboloid.exec_count
Execution count:  53


Now, consider modifying the assembly so that x and y have scalers specified when added to the assembly’s driver:

self.driver.add_parameter('paraboloid.x', low=-1000., high=1000., scaler=0.001)


Running the assembly with these specifications for x and y gives:

>>> opt_problem = OptimizationUnconstrainedScale()
>>> tt = time.time()
>>> opt_problem.run()
>>> print opt_problem.paraboloid.x,opt_problem.paraboloid.y
(0.006667, -733.333313)
>>> print "Elapsed time: ", time.time()-tt, "seconds"
Elapsed time:  0.0 seconds
>>> print "Execution count: ", opt_problem.paraboloid.exec_count
Execution count:  23


So, the computed minimizers of f are closer to the true minimizers of f when scaling is used. Furthermore, this optimization was computed more quickly and used fewer iterations with scaling than without scaling.

Next, let’s look at a problem well-suited for both scalers and adders: a shifted and scaled paraboloid given by

$f(x,y) = (1000x-3)^2 + (1000x)*(0.01*(y+1000)) + (0.01*(y+1000)+4)^2 - 3$

which has the minimum (0.006667, -1733.334333). This is implemented using the component:

class Paraboloid_shift(Component):
""" Evaluates the equation f(x,y) = (1000*x-3)^2 + (1000*x)*(0.01*(y+1000)) + (0.01*(y+1000)+4)^2 - 3  """

# set up interface to the framework
# pylint: disable-msg=E1101
x = Float(0.0, iotype='in', desc='The variable x')
y = Float(0.0, iotype='in', desc='The variable y')

f_xy = Float(iotype='out', desc='F(x,y)')

def execute(self):
"""f(x,y) = (1000*x-3)^2 + (1000*x)*(0.01*(y+1000)) + (0.01*(y+1000)+4)^2 - 3
Optimal solution (minimum): x = 0.0066666666666666671; y = -1733.33333333333337
"""

x = self.x
y = self.y

self.f_xy = (1000*x-3)**2 + (1000*x)*(0.01*(y+1000)) + (0.01*(y+1000)+4)**2 - 3


As before, a direct optimization can be performed using the assembly:

class OptimizationUnconstrainedScaleShift(Assembly):
"""Unconstrained optimization of the Paraboloid Component."""

def configure(self):
""" Creates a new Assembly containing a Paraboloid and an optimizer"""

# pylint: disable-msg=E1101

# Create Optimizer instance

# Create Paraboloid component instances

# Driver process definition

# SQLSQP Flags
self.driver.iprint = 0

# Objective

# Design Variables


Running this produces:

>>> opt_problem = OptimizationUnconstrainedScaleShift()
>>> tt = time.time()
>>> opt_problem.run()
>>> print opt_problem.paraboloid.x,opt_problem.paraboloid.y
(0.006667, -733.333313)
>>> print "Elapsed time: ", time.time()-tt, "seconds"
Elapsed time:  0.0160000324249 seconds
>>> print "Execution count: ", opt_problem.paraboloid.exec_count
Execution count:  52


So, consider specifying both scaler and adder values for x and y when adding them to driver:

self.driver.add_parameter('paraboloid.x', low=-1000000., high=1000000., scaler=0.001)


Running the assembly now gives:

>>> opt_problem = OptimizationUnconstrainedScaleShift()
>>> tt = time.time()
>>> opt_problem.run()
>>> print opt_problem.paraboloid.x,opt_problem.paraboloid.y
(0.006667, -733.333313)
>>> print "Elapsed time: ", time.time()-tt, "seconds"
Elapsed time:  0.0 seconds
>>> print "Execution count: ", opt_problem.paraboloid.exec_count
Execution count:  23


Just as before, the optimization converges more quickly and with fewer iterations.