kailai Sun

Dr. kailai Sun

SMART, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Maryland, USA
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

5Years (2022-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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30 October 2024 in Neurocomputing
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
KSkailai Sun
kailai Sun
XWXinwei Wang
Xinwei Wang
XMXi Miao
Xi Miao
QZQianchuan Zhao
Qianchuan Zhao

7 September 2023 in Building and Environment
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
KSkailai Sun
kailai Sun
IQIrfan Qaisar
Irfan Qaisar
MKMuhammad Arslan Khan
Muhammad Arslan Khan
TXTian Xing
Tian Xing
QZQianchuan Zhao
Qianchuan Zhao

26 November 2024 in Building and Environment
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
IRFAN QAISARIRFAN QAISAR
IRFAN QAISAR
WLWei Liang
Wei Liang
KSkailai Sun
kailai Sun
TXTian Xing
Tian Xing
QZQianchuan Zhao
Qianchuan Zhao

28 September 2022 in Building and Environment
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
KSkailai Sun
kailai Sun
PLPeng Liu
Peng Liu
TXTian Xing
Tian Xing
QZQianchuan Zhao
Qianchuan Zhao
XWXinwei Wang
Xinwei Wang

23 August 2023 in IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
ALAnbang Liu
Anbang Liu
PLPeter B. Luh
Peter B. Luh
KSkailai Sun
kailai Sun
Mikhail BraginMikhail Bragin
Mikhail Bragin
BYBing Yan
Bing Yan
Job-shop scheduling is an important but difficult combinatorial optimization problem for low-volume and high-variety manufacturing, with solutions required to be obtained quickly at the beginning of each shift. In view of the increasing demand for customized products, problem sizes are growing. A promising direction is to take advantage of Machine Learning (ML). Direct learning to predict solutions for job-shop scheduling, however, suffers from major difficulties when problem scales are large. In this paper, a Deep Neural Network (DNN) is synergistically integrated within the decomposition and coordination framework of Surrogate Lagrangian Relaxation (SLR) to predict good-enough solutions for subproblems. Since a subproblem is associated with a single part, learning difficulties caused by large scales are overcome. Nevertheless, the learning still presents challenges. Because of the high-variety nature of parts, the DNN is desired to be able to generalize to solve all possible parts. To this end, our idea is to establish “surrogate” part subproblems that are easier to learn, develop a DNN based on Pointer Network to learn to predict their solutions, and calculate the solutions of the original part subproblems based on the predictions. Moreover, a masking mechanism is developed such that all the predictions are feasible. Numerical results demonstrate that good-enough subproblem solutions are predicted in many iterations, and high-quality solutions of the overall problem are obtained in a computationally efficient manner. The performance of the method is further improved through continuous learning. Note to Practitioners —Scheduling is important for the planning and operation of job shops, and high-quality schedules need to be obtained quickly at the beginning of each shift. To take advantage of ML, in this paper, a DNN is integrated within our recent decomposition and coordination approach to learn to predict “good-enough” solutions to part subproblems. To be able to predict solutions for parts of various characteristics“, surrogate” part subproblems that are easier to learn are established, and a generic “pointer network” is developed to learn to predict their solutions. To satisfy the constraints of the surrogate part subproblems, the pointer network is enhanced with a novel “masking mechanism” such that all the predictions are feasible. The solutions to the original part subproblems are calculated based on the predictions. Testing results demonstrate that subproblem solutions are efficiently obtained based on predictions, and the high-quality solutions of the overall problem are thus efficiently obtained. Through continuous learning, the performance of the method is further improved. Python codes and datasets are submitted together with the paper.

27 February 2024 in Building and Environment
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
KSkailai Sun
kailai Sun