Stability Assessment of Feature Selection Algorithms on Homogeneous Datasets: A Study for Sensor Array Optimization Problem

A feature selection algorithm (FSA) is used to eliminate redundant and irrelevant features. Obviously, it can reduce dimensionality as well as the complexity of the original problem. Furthermore, the stability of FSA output becomes a major issue in real-world applications. Stability refers to the consistency of its feature preference related to the perturbation of data samples. In sensor array optimization, an FSA is used to find the best sensor combination in a sensor array. Typically, the main objectives of sensor array optimization are reducing data dimensions, electrical consumption, production cost, computational and traffic overhead, etc. Furthermore, the stable outputs of FSA in several observations are necessary to make a firm conclusion of selected sensors. The contribution of this research is to investigate the stability of FSAs in twelve homogeneous datasets in relation to the sensor array optimization problem. In this study, the stability of seventeen filter-based FSAs is compared across twelve homogeneous datasets. These datasets are generated from the electronic nose (e-nose) used to monitor twelve types of beef cuts. In this case, gas sensor array must have good generalization to differentiate all beef types. The experimental results show that a single FSA cannot guarantee stable sensors recommendation in sensor array optimization. Thus, it becomes a caution to researchers and practitioners to use a proper approach when performing sensor array optimization.