Configuring the Pointer Automatic Optimizer Technique

Select the optimization technique as described in Configuring the Technique and Execution Options.

In the Optimization Technique Options area, enter or select the following:

Option	Description
Maximum allowable job time (hr)	This parameter represents the time that the Pointer technique has to complete a job. The Pointer technique will use all the time you give it, even if it finds the global optimum early on. The longer it is stuck without finding an improvement, the more radical changes it will try. It accepts a real input greater than 0.0. The default value is 1.0.
Average analysis time (sec)	This parameter is the average wall clock time it takes to run a single simulation, including all Isight-related overhead (for file parsing, etc.). The Pointer technique takes the ratio of allowable job time and average simulation time to estimate how many simulations it will be able to do and adjusts its search strategy accordingly. It accepts a real input greater than 0.0. The default value is 1.0.
Topography type	The default topography type is nonlinear. The following options are available: linear assumes that objectives and constraints are linear combinations of the design variables. smooth indicates that the function is differentiable everywhere and contains no discrete steps but could still contain multiple local minima. rough indicates that the function is not necessarily smooth but only contains small scale discontinuities or noise. discontinuous indicates that the design space could contain large scale discrete steps, and points where the function is not differentiable. If nonlinear is selected, the only assumption made is that objectives and constraints are not linear combinations of the design variables (i.e., the problem is not a linear one). If unknown is selected, no assumptions have been made about the nature of the design space.
Failed Run Penalty Value	This parameter represents the value of the Penalty parameter that is used for all failed subflow runs. The default value is $1 \times 10^{30}$ .
Failed Run Objective Value	This parameter represents the value of the Objective parameter that is used for all failed subflow runs. The default value is $1 \times 10^{30}$ .
Save Technique Log	Most optimization techniques create a log file of information/messages as they run. This information can be useful for determining why an optimizer took the path that it did or why it converged. Some of these log files can get extremely large, so they are not stored with the run results by default. Select this option if you want to store the log with the run results (as a file parameter) for later viewing.
Maximum Failed Runs	This parameter is used to set the maximum number of failed subflow evaluations that can be tolerated by the optimization technique. If the number of failed runs exceeds this value, the optimization component will terminate execution. To disable this feature, set this option to any negative value (e.g., –1). When this option is set to a negative value, the optimization will continue execution despite any number of failed subflow runs.
Use fixed random seed	If this option is selected, the random number generator used by the optimization algorithm is seeded using the value specified in the Random seed value text box. All executions of the Optimization component will use exactly the same sequence of random numbers and, therefore, will produce exactly the same design points. This arrangement is useful for debugging the optimization process when it is necessary to reproduce the same sequence of design points. If this option is not selected, the random number generator is seeded by using the clock time at the moment of execution.

Click Update Component to save your changes.