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Reentry trajectory optimization is a critical optimal control problem for reusable launch vehicle (RLV) with highly nonlinear dynamic characteristics and complex constraints. In this paper, a hybrid parallel Harris hawks optimization (HPHHO) algorithm is proposed to address the problem. HPHHO aims to enhance the performance of existing Harris hawks optimization (HHO) algorithm by three strategies including oppositional learning, smoothing technique and parallel optimization mechanism. At the beginning of each iteration, the opposite population is calculated from the current population by the oppositional learning strategy. Following that, the individuals in the two populations are arranged in ascending order on the basis of the fitness function values, and the top half of the resulting population is selected as the initial population. The selected initial population is divided into two equal subpopulations which are assigned to the differential evolution and the HHO algorithm, respectively. The both algorithms operate in parallel to search and update the solutions of each subpopulation simultaneously. Then the solutions are smoothed for each iteration by the smoothing technique to reduce fluctuations. As a result, the optimal solution obtained by the parallel optimization mechanism avoids falling into local optima. The performance of HPHHO is evaluated by 4 CEC 2005 benchmark functions and 3 constrained continuous optimal control problems, showing better efficiency and robustness in terms of performance metrics, convergence rate and stability. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is very effective, practical and feasible in solving the RLV reentry trajectory optimization problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a textile mill, ring and rotor spinning processes are the main technologies employed to convert cotton fibres into yarns with desirable qualities. It has been observed that in order to produce yarns having satisfactory quality characteristics, those spinning processes need to be run while setting different input variables (control parameters) at their optimal operating levels. In this paper, the optimal parametric combinations of back and front zone variables in a ring frame, and input variables in a rotor spinning process are determined based on teaching-learning-based optimization algorithm. The optimization performance of this algorithm is also compared with four other techniques, e.g., firefly algorithm, differential evolution algorithm, cuckoo search algorithm and quantum particle swarm optimization algorithm with respect to accuracy and consistency of the derived solutions. This optimization technique can thus be effectively applied to any of the intermediate processes in a textile mill to obtain the best combinations of different input variables so as to achieve the target quality characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differential evolution (DE) is one of the most powerful and versatile evolutionary algorithms for efficiently solving complex real-world optimization problems in recent years. Since its introduction in 1995, the research focus in DE has mostly been on the variant side with so many new algorithms proposed based on the original DE algorithm. However, each new algorithm is only suitable for certain fitness landscapes, and, therefore, some types of optimization problems cannot be solved efficiently. To tackle this issue, this paper presents a new self-feedback DE algorithm, named the SFDE; its optimal variation strategy is selected by extracting the local fitness landscape characteristics in each generation population and combing the probability distributions of unimodality and multimodality in each local fitness landscape. The proposed algorithm is tested on a suite of 17 benchmark functions, and the experimental results demonstrated its advantages in a high search dimension in that it can ensure that the population moves to a better fitness landscape, then speeds up convergence to the global optimum, and avoids falling into local optima. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]