The encoding technique proposed in this paper showed good results even when used to the standard algorithm.
The optimization of the benchmark problem gave a solution close to others found in the literature. In order to
improve the solutions and to accelerate the convergence, more sophisticated GA operators might be helpful. This can
be the target of a future research, as well as transforming the problem into a multi-objective optimization one.
The penalty function built for the research showed great capabilities to express the constraint violations of the
solutions, leading to a much faster algorithm and much better solutions than MATLAB’s built-in augmented
lagrangian barrier algorithm. However, the calibration of this function is not always an easy task. A too harsh
penalty, even for small violations, might dismiss promising solutions, while a too loose constraint penalty favors
unfeasible solutions too much. The authors used the classic trial and error calibration of the problem (a thing made
possible by the very cheap computational effort involved) but a more in-depth study might give optimum values for
the penalty function parameters or even propose a way to make them adaptive and incorporate them in the GA
optimization.
The original code implemented in MATLAB was tested on several problems, showing the versatility of the
approach to tackle different truss conformations and simultaneously optimize their topology, size and shape.