Hybrid estimation of distribution algorithms for solving a keyboard layout problem

ABSTRACT

The use of smartphones and handheld devices in our daily activities has sharply increased. The added features of wireless technology and related applications on these devices make it possible to write emails, notes, and long text. Even though the most commonly used electronic input device is a keyboard, very little work has been dedicated for finding an optimal layout for this device. In this research, the aim is to propose a better layout for the single-finger keyboard in terms of rapid typing. The keyboard layout problem can be formulated as a quadratic assignment problem, which is one of the hardest combinatorial optimization problems. Some well-known literary works in English are chosen for estimating the keying-in-time. A variant of genetic algorithm, namely, the estimation of distribution algorithms is used to find a better layout. The new layout is found to be efficient compared with some of the existing prominent keyboard layouts.

KEYWORDS:

• Single-finger keyboard
• estimation of distribution algorithm
• quadratic assignment problem
• keyboard layout problem
• population based incremental learning
• univariate marginal distribution algorithm

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the referees and the editor for their constructive suggestions and comments which have immensely helped to bring this paper to the present form.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

T.G. Pradeepmon

T.G. Pradeepmon is a research scholar in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is pursuing research on the development of heuristics for solving QAPs. His areas of interest include supply chain management, combinatorial optimization, metaheuristics, and simulation.

Vinay V. Panicker

Vinay V. Panicker is an Assistant Professor from the National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC), Kerala, India, where he teaches courses on Supply Chain Management, Work System Design, and Statistics for Management. He has done research in the area of supply chain management for his doctoral degree from the NITC. His research interests focus in the areas of supply chain management, logistics management, and ergonomics. He has published technical papers in the referred international journals and proceedings of international and national conferences.

R. Sridharan

R. Sridharan is a Professor of Industrial Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NITC, India. He received his PhD in 1995 from the Department of Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India. His research interests include modeling and analysis of decision problems in supply chain management, job shop production systems, and flexible manufacturing systems. He has published papers in the referred international journals and proceedings of international and national conferences. He has been conferred with the Fellowship award by the National Council of Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering in 2017 for the outstanding contribution to the field of Industrial Engineering and the Institution.