meaning of "Scale" column in design variable set in Response Optimizer tool

In Simulink, particularly in the Response Optimizer tool, when adding my design variable set, there are three columns: the 'Value' column where I input the initial value during model design, the 'Minimum' and 'Maximum' columns where I define the possible range for my variables. However, there is also a 'Scale' column which I find confusing. Could someone please explain the meaning of the 'Scale' column and what should be entered into it? By the way, I'm optimizing a nonlinear problem, and it's also a steady-state system.

Answer 1

[Gayatri]

Hi Nassar,

• The 'Scale' column specifies the scaling factor for each design variable. This is used to normalize the design variables before they are processed by the optimization algorithm.
• The main purpose of the normalization is to ensure that all design variables contribute equally to the optimization problem.
• This will avoid situations where variables with larger numerical ranges dominate the optimization criteria.
• Proper scaling can help the optimization algorithm converge more quickly.

Here are few ways to set the value of Scale:

• Set the scale to be approximately equal to the expected range of that variable. This means if you expect a variable to vary between 0 and 100, a scale of 100 might be appropriate.
• Use the difference between the maximum and minimum values as the scale. This normalizes the variable changes to a [0, 1] range during optimization.

Please refer the below documentation for Response Optimizer:

https://in.mathworks.com/help/sldo/ref/responseoptimizer-app.html#bu5jkt2_examples

I hope it helps!

Answer 2

[Nassar AlMarry]

Thank you so much Gayatri