Genetic algorithms for the construction of D-optimal designs

Computer-generated designs are useful for situations where standard factorial, fractional factorial or response surface designs cannot be easily employed. Alphabetically-optimal designs are the most widely used type of computer-generated designs, and of these, the D-optimal (or D-efficient) class of designs is extremely popular. D-optimal designs are usually constructed by algorithms that sequentially add and delete points from a potential design by using a candidate set of points spaced over the region of interest. We present a technique to generate D-efficient designs using genetic algorithms (GA). This approach eliminates the need to explicitly consider a candidate set of experimental points and it can be used in highly constrained regions while maintaining a level of performance comparable to more traditional design construction techniques.