Large-Batch, Iteration-Efficient Neural Bayesian Design Optimization

Navid Ansari, Hans-peter Seidel, Vahid Babaei

Primary Area: applications to robotics, autonomy, planning

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Keywords: Bayesian optimization, Neural inverse design, Paretofront discovery, Multi-objective optimization, Uncertainty-aware-surrogate model

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TL;DR: Our paper presents a novel BO framework, employing Bayesian Neural Networks and a scalable, uncertainty-aware acquisition function, to efficiently handle data-intensive multi-objective optimization problems.

Abstract: Bayesian optimization (BO) provides a powerful framework for optimizing black-box, expensive-to-evaluate functions. It is therefore an attractive tool for engineering design problems, typically involving multiple objectives. Thanks to the rapid advances in fabrication and measurement methods as well as parallel computing infrastructure, querying many design problems can be heavily parallelized. This class of problems challenges BO with an unprecedented setup where it has to deal with very large batches, shifting its focus from sample efficiency to iteration efficiency. We present a novel Bayesian optimization framework specifically tailored to address these limitations. Our key contribution is a highly scalable, sample-based acquisition function that performs a non-dominated sorting of not only the objectives but also their associated uncertainty. We show that our acquisition function in combination with different Bayesian neural network surrogates is effective in data-intensive environments with a minimal number of iterations. We demonstrate the superiority of our method by comparing it with state-of-the-art multi-objective optimizations. We perform our evaluation on two real-world problems - airfoil design and 3D printing -showcasing the applicability and efficiency of our approach. Our code is available at: https://github.com/an-on-ym-ous/lbn_mobo

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Submission Number: 5310