Q-Learning-Based Teaching-Learning Optimization for Distributed Two-Stage Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling with Fuzzy Processing Time

Two-stage hybrid flow shop scheduling has been extensively considered in single-factory settings. However, the distributed two-stage hybrid flow shop scheduling problem (DTHFSP) with fuzzy processing time is seldom investigated in multiple factories. Furthermore, the integration of reinforcement learning and metaheuristic is seldom applied to solve DTHFSP. In the current study, DTHFSP with fuzzy processing time was investigated, and a novel Q-learning-based teaching-learning based optimization (QTLBO) was constructed to minimize makespan. Several teachers were recruited for this study. The teacher phase, learner phase, teacher’s self-learning phase, and learner’s self-learning phase were designed. The Q-learning algorithm was implemented by 9 states, 4 actions defined as combinations of the above phases, a reward, and an adaptive action selection, which were applied to dynamically adjust the algorithm structure. A number of experiments were conducted. The computational results demonstrate that the new strategies of QTLBO are effective; furthermore, it presents promising results on the considered DTHFSP. © The author(s) 2022.