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In this work, an improved moth-flame optimization algorithm is proposed to alleviate the problems of premature convergence and convergence to local minima. From the perspective of diversity, an inertia weight of diversity feedback control is introduced in the moth-flame optimization to balance the algorithm's exploitation and global search abilities. Furthermore, a small probability mutation after the position update stage is added to improve the optimization performance. The performance of the proposed algorithm is extensively evaluated on a suite of CEC'2014 series benchmark functions and four constrained engineering optimization problems. The results of the proposed algorithm are compared with the ones of other improved algorithms presented in literatures. It is observed that the proposed method has a superior performance to improve the convergence ability of the algorithm. In addition, the proposed algorithm assists in escaping the local minima. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As is well known that the global optimization ability of the Fruit fly Optimization Algorithm (FOA)is weak because it is easy to fall into local optimum. In this paper, a Fruit Fly Optimization Algorithm based on Locality Sensitive Hashing-aware (LSHFOA)was proposed. The locality sensitive hashing mechanism to optimize the generation mechanism for swarm population individuals was used, which can improve the individual diversity of the population. Meanwhile, when the fruit fly population falls into the local optimum, the locality sensitive hashing mechanism was adopted to change the population location, which is used for jumping out of local optimal limits. To verify the performance of LSHFOA, it was compared with FOA and its improvement algorithms CFOA, and IFFO with 8 representative benchmark functions. A large number of experimental results showed that LSHFOA has a faster convergence speed and higher precision of optimization for function optimization, especially in high-dimensional multi-peak functions. In addition to the theoretical evaluation, we also evaluate its performance in a real-world scenario. Generally, an edge computing environment, as an extension of cloud computing, can allow the users to access the network in a low-latency manner. In this way, to capture the high-speed convergence advantage, this paper makes the first attempt to tackle a classic research problem in the edge computing environment, i.e., the edge server placement problem. The experimental results show that the new algorithm has an excellent application effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a trend to deploy neural network on edge devices in recent years. While the mainstream of research often concerns with single edge device processing and edge-cloud two-layer neural network collaborative computing, in this paper, we propose partitioning multi-layer edge network for neural network collaborative computing. With the proposed method, sub-models of neural network are deployed on multi-layer edge devices along the communication path from end users to cloud. Firstly, we propose an optimal path selection method to form a neural network collaborative computing path with lowest communication overhead. Secondly, we establish a time-delay optimization mathematical model to evaluate the effects of different partitioning solutions. To find the optimal partition solution, an ordered elitist genetic algorithm (OEGA) is proposed. The experimental results show that, compared with traditional cloud computing, single-device edge computing and edge-cloud collaborative computing, the proposed multi-layer edge network collaborative computing has a smaller runtime delay with limited bandwidth resources, and because of the pipeline computing characteristics, the proposed method has a better response speed when processing large number of requests. Meanwhile, the OEGA algorithm has better performance than conventional methods, and the optimized partitioning method outperforms other methods like random and evenly partition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on mobile robots began in the late 1960s. Mobile robots are a typical autonomous intelligent system and a hot spot in the high-tech field. They are the intersection of multiple technical disciplines such as computer artificial intelligence, robotics, control theory and electronic technology. The product not only has potentially very attractive application value and commercial value, but the research on it is also a challenge to intelligent technology. The development of mobile robots provides excellent research for various intelligent technologies and solutions. This dissertation aims to study the research of multi-sensor information fusion and intelligent optimization methods and the methods of applying them to mobile robot related technologies, and in-depth study of the construction of mobile robot maps from the perspective of multi-sensor information fusion. And, in order to achieve this function, combined with autonomous exploration and other related theories and algorithms, combined with the Robot Operating System (ROS). This paper proposes the area equalization method, equalization method, fuzzy neural network and other methods to promote the realization of related technologies. At the same time, this paper conducts simulation research based on the SLAM comprehensive experiment of the JNPF-4WD square mobile robot. On this basis, the high precision and high reliability of robot positioning are further realized. The experimental results in this paper show that the maximum error of the X-axis and Y-axis, FastSLAM algorithm is smaller than EKF algorithm, and the improved FASTSALM algorithm error is further reduced compared with the original FastSLAM algorithm, the value is less than 0.1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently been increasingly popular in various areas, fields, and applications. Military, disaster management, rescue operations, public services, agriculture, and various other areas are examples. As a result, UAV path planning is concerned with determining the optimal path from the source to the destination while avoiding collisions with lowering the cost of time, energy, and other resources. This review aims to assort academic studies on the path planning optimization in UAV using meta-heuristic algorithms, summarize the results of each optimization algorithm, and extend the understanding of the current state of the path planning in UAV in the meta-heuristic optimization field. For this purpose, we implemented a broad, automated search using Boolean and snowballing searching methods to find academic works on path planning in UAVs. Studies and papers have been distinguished, and the following information was obtained and aggregated from each article: authors, publication's year, the journal name or the conference name, proposed algorithms, the aim of the study, the outcome, and the quality of each study. According to the findings, the meta-heuristic algorithm is a standard optimization method for tackling single and multi-objective problems. Besides, the findings show that meta-heuristic algorithms have a great compact on the path planning optimization in UAVs, and there is good progress in this field. However, the problem still exists mainly in complex and dynamic environments, on battlefields, in rescue missions, mobile obstacles, and with multiple UAVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale numerical optimization problems arise from many fields and have applications in both industrial and academic contexts. Finding solutions to such optimization problems efficiently requires algorithms that are able to leverage the increasing parallelism available in modern computing hardware. In this paper, we review previous work on parallelizing algorithms for nonlinear optimization. To introduce the topic, the paper starts by giving an accessible introduction to nonlinear optimization and high-performance computing. This is followed by a survey of previous work on parallelization and utilization of high-performance computing hardware for nonlinear optimization algorithms. Finally, we present a number of optimization software libraries and how they are able to utilize parallel computing today. This study can serve as an introduction point for researchers interested in nonlinear optimization or high-performance computing, as well as provide ideas and inspiration for future work combining these topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a parallel computing analysis model HPM and analyzes the parallel architecture of CPU–GPU based on this model. On this basis, we study the parallel optimization of the ray-tracing algorithm on the CPU–GPU parallel architecture and give full play to the parallelism between nodes, the parallelism of the multi-core CPU inside the node, and the parallelism of the GPU, which improve the calculation speed of the ray-tracing algorithm. This paper uses the space division technology to divide the ground data, constructs the KD-tree organization structure, and improves the construction method of KD-tree to reduce the time complexity of the algorithm. The ground data is evenly distributed to each computing node, and the computing nodes use a combination of CPU–GPU for parallel optimization. This method dramatically improves the drawing speed while ensuring the image quality and provides an effective means for quickly generating photorealistic images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of an extensive number of low-power sensor nodes to gather information from their environment and monitor physical activities. This makes node localization a crucial aspect in most WSN applications since measurement data is worthless unless the location from where the data is acquired is known precisely. The majority of localization solutions rely on anchor nodes for estimating the node locations with different localization accuracy, complexity, and hence different applicability. But, the cost and complexity in the localization of large-scale WSNs are not significantly reduced. In this paper, a novel Hybridized Dragonfly and Jaya Optimization technique (HyDAJ) is introduced for improving localization accuracy and performance of mobile WSNs. The proposed hybrid technique combines the advantages of Dragonfly algorithm and Jaya algorithm to localize the sensor nodes in a more efficient way and overcomes the limitations of the original algorithm. The hybrid algorithm verifies that all target nodes are precisely localized with higher accuracy. Simulation results reveal that HyDAJ outperforms existing methods under multiple metrics including localization efficiency, mean localization error, computation time, and energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on developing an improved multi-focus image fusion (MFIF) algorithm. Existing spatial domain algorithms dependent on the obtained fusion decision map still lead to unexpected ghosting, blurred, edges as well as blocking effects such that the visual effect of image fusion is seriously degraded. To overcome these shortages, an improved MFIF algorithm is developed with the help of a novel multi-scale weighted focus measure and a decision map optimization technique. First, a novel multi-scale measurement template is designed in order to effectively extract the gradient information of rich texture regions, smooth regions as well as transitional regions between the aforementioned regions simultaneously. Then, an improved calculation scheme of the focus score matrix is designed based on the weighted sum of the focus measure maps in each region window centered on a concerned pixel, under which the advantage of pixel-by-pixel weighting is employed. In what follows, an initial decision map is obtained in light of the focus score matrix combined with threshold filtering, which is employed to eliminate the small isolated regions caused by some misclassified pixels. Furthermore, an accurate decision map is received with the help of the optimization capability of guided filtering to avoid edge unexpected artificial textures. In comparison with block-based fusion algorithms, our algorithm developed in this paper extracts the focus regions pixel-by-pixel, thereby helping to reduce the blocking effects that appear in the fusion image. Finally, some intensive comparison analysis based on common datasets is performed to verify the superiority over state-of-the-art methods in both visual qualitative and quantitative evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the data description of the African buffalo optimization algorithm (ABO). ABO is a recently-designed optimization algorithm that is inspired by the migrant behaviour of African buffalos in the vast African landscape. Organizing their large herds that could be over a thousand buffalos using just two principal sounds, the /maaa/ and the /waaa/ calls present a good foundation for the development of an optimization algorithm. Since elaborate descriptions of the manual workings of optimization algorithms are rare in literature, this paper aims at solving this problem, hence it is our main contribution. It is our belief that elaborate manual description of the workings of optimization algorithms make it user-friendly and encourage reproducibility of the experimental procedures performed using this algorithm. Again, our ability to describe the algorithm's basic flow, stochastic and data generation processes in a language so simple that any non-expert can appreciate and use as well as the practical implementation of the popular benchmark Rosenbrock and Shekel Foxhole functions with the novel algorithm will assist the research community in benefiting maximally from the contributions of this novel algorithm. Finally, benchmarking the good experimental output of the ABO with those of the popular, highly effective and efficient Cuckoo Search and Flower Pollination Algorithm underscores the ABO as a worthy contribution to the existing body of population-based optimization algorithms [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-dimensional imbalanced biomedical data has dual characteristics of high-dimensional and imbalanced distribution. It is important to improve classification accuracy by filtering out low-dimensional feature subsets that are highly correlated with the classification target and have minimal mutual redundancy. However, traditional feature selection algorithms tend to select the feature subset that is favorable to class with large sample size, resulting in poor classification performance for minority samples. In response to the above problems, the P-AdaBoost-PAUC algorithm is proposed to be applied to high-dimensional imbalanced biomedical data classification. The idea of P-AdaBoost-PAUC algorithm has two major contributions. The first is that an improved decision tree attribute optimization algorithm (DT-P) is proposed, which pays more attention to the correlation among attributes. The second is that an improved AdaBoost algorithm based on probabilistic AUC (AdaBoost-PAUC) is proposed, which comprehensively considers misclassification probability and AUC to pay more attention to minority samples. An ensemble algorithm for high-dimensional imbalanced biomedical data classification is formed, which is conducive to improve classification performance. Experimental results show that Recall, Specificity, F1, and AUC values of P-AdaBoost-PAUC ensemble algorithm have reached the highest values on datasets with different imbalance rate. Especially when the proportion of minority samples is only 12.6 % , Recall, Specificity, F1 and AUC values all reached above 0.95. And algorithm stability experiments show that P-AdaBoost-PAUC algorithm is more stable than other algorithms. Therefore, the P-AdaBoost-PAUC ensemble algorithm proposed in this paper improves classification performance of minority samples on high-dimensional imbalanced biomedical data to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning algorithms often contain many hyperparameters whose values affect the predictive performance of the induced models in intricate ways. Due to the high number of possibilities for these hyperparameter configurations and their complex interactions, it is common to use optimization techniques to find settings that lead to high predictive performance. However, insights into efficiently exploring this vast space of configurations and dealing with the trade-off between predictive and runtime performance remain challenging. Furthermore, there are cases where the default hyperparameters fit the suitable configuration. Additionally, for many reasons, including model validation and attendance to new legislation, there is an increasing interest in interpretable models, such as those created by the decision tree (DT) induction algorithms. This paper provides a comprehensive approach for investigating the effects of hyperparameter tuning for the two DT induction algorithms most often used, CART and C4.5. DT induction algorithms present high predictive performance and interpretable classification models, though many hyperparameters need to be adjusted. Experiments were carried out with different tuning strategies to induce models and to evaluate hyperparameters' relevance using 94 classification datasets from OpenML. The experimental results point out that different hyperparameter profiles for the tuning of each algorithm provide statistically significant improvements in most of the datasets for CART, but only in one-third for C4.5. Although different algorithms may present different tuning scenarios, the tuning techniques generally required few evaluations to find accurate solutions. Furthermore, the best technique for all the algorithms was the Irace. Finally, we found out that tuning a specific small subset of hyperparameters is a good alternative for achieving optimal predictive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of computer hardware in the past three decades, various classic algorithms such as neural computing and bionic optimization computing have been widely used in practical problems. This paper extended the new bionic algorithm-flock algorithm proposed in 2014 and obtained a multi-objective flock algorithm to solve the multi-objective problem. This study used aggregate functions to define social ranks, and simulated the foraging behavior of chickens in the process of searching for food in the objective space and found the balance between diversity and convergence when looking for the best Pareto solution. The algorithm took five types of bi-objective functions and four types of three-objective functions as objects and compared it with four more widely used algorithms in multi-objective problems. The results demonstrate that the MOCSO (multi-objective chicken swarm optimization) algorithm shows better results in the optimization of multi-objective problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In biomedical data mining, the gene dimension is often much larger than the sample size. To solve this problem, we need to use a feature selection algorithm to select feature gene subsets with a strong correlation with phenotype to ensure the accuracy of subsequent analysis. This paper presents a new three-stage hybrid feature gene selection method, that combines a variance filter, extremely randomized tree, and whale optimization algorithm. First, a variance filter is used to reduce the dimension of the feature gene space, and an extremely randomized tree is used to further reduce the feature gene set. Finally, the whale optimization algorithm is used to select the optimal feature gene subset. We evaluate the proposed method with three different classifiers in seven published gene expression profile datasets and compare it with other advanced feature selection algorithms. The results show that the proposed method has significant advantages in a variety of evaluation indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a widespread technology used in several different industries. One of its common use cases in logistics is the automation of goods receipt. RFID gates are often deployed, to automatically detect tagged items or load carriers during their passage through the goods receipt gate. At present, however, the design of RFID gates is often based on estimations, and their commissioning is mostly approached via trial and error. Even if the RFID network planning problem is known in the literature, existing algorithms cannot be applied to the design of RFID gates due to some limitations. In this paper, we propose a new evolutionary RFID network planning algorithm to design RFID gates optimally. The objective of our algorithm is to minimise the number of antennas and to adjust their mounting heights and angles. The algorithm ensures a tag coverage of at least 99%, prevents reflections on the ground, and can be used in the future as a standard for planning and commissioning RFID-enabled goods receipt gates. To demonstrate the applicability of our algorithm, we deployed it in a case study involving logistics of the automotive sector. The results of the deployment confirm the quality of our approach, as the RFID gate optimised by the algorithm deployed 4 antennas, with a vertical coverage rate of 99.96%, an horizontal coverage rate of 89.66%, and very interesting values of other evaluation functions, namely load balance and overlapping rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multi-label learning, considering the relative importance between labels can yield better performance than considering the equal importance. To explore relative labeling importance, many existing algorithms introduce the global label correlations. However, the global correlations can only reflect the semantic relation between labels, while ignoring the label correlation differences between different instances. In practical applications, labels with high semantic relevance may not be highly relevant in all instances. In this paper, we consider both global and local label correlations to estimate relative labeling importance. Firstly, we calculate a global label correlation matrix in the whole label space. Secondly, each instance subset is assigned a local label correlation matrix, which is learned from the cosine similarity of labels within the cluster. Based on the assumption that label correlations can be transferred from the original categorical space to the numerical label space, we add global and local label correlation regularization terms. Finally, we integrate the importance estimating and the model training into a unified framework, and propose an alternative optimization algorithm to solve it. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, we conduct experiments on thirteen multi-label datasets. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing multi-label learning algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifactorial evolution algorithm (MFEA) is a powerful search paradigm with the purpose of addressing multiple optimization tasks simultaneously in the field of evolutionary computation. The assortative mating of MFEA is a key component to make it outperform traditional single-task optimization algorithms. However, the optimal solution of each generation has still not been well utilized to accelerate convergence in the process of assortative mating operation for existing MFEAs. This paper proposes a multifactorial differential evolution algorithm with optima-based transformation (MFDE-OBT), which employs the optimal solution of each generation to design an improved assortative mating operation based on the DE/rand/2 mutation. The improved operation generates an offspring for each individual by running a perturbation around a current optimal individual. The object of the assortative mating is a vector added for the perturbation, which is the sum of two difference vectors generated by a random sample with a certain probability from an individual set that can be same as or different from the one of the task involving the optimal individual. In addition, MFDE-OBT integrates an opposition-based search strategy behind the assortative mating operation to balance exploitation and exploration of each search space. Experimental results on benchmark problems constituted by tasks with different degree of similarity and intersection demonstrate the advantage of the proposed MFDE-OBT algorithm over some state-of-the-art algorithms, in terms of solution precision and convergence performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are considered a promising example of an automatic emergency task in a dynamic marine environment. However, the maritime communication performance between UAVs and offshore platforms has become a severe challenge. Due to the complex marine environment, the task allocation and route planning efficiency of multiple UAVs in an intelligent ocean are not satisfactory. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an intelligent marine task allocation and route planning scheme for multiple UAVs based on improved particle swarm optimization combined with a genetic algorithm (GA-PSO). Based on the simulation of an intelligent marine control system, the traditional particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is improved by introducing partial matching crossover and secondary transposition mutation. The improved GA-PSO is used to solve the random task allocation problem of multiple UAVs and the two-dimensional route planning of a single UAV. The simulation results show that compared with the traditional scheme, the proposed scheme can significantly improve the task allocation efficiency, and the navigation path planned by the proposed scheme is also optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithms encounter significant challenges when tackling many-objective optimization problems. This is mainly because of the imbalance between convergence and diversity that occurs when increasing the selection pressure. In this paper, a novel adaptive MOPSO (ANMPSO) algorithm based on R2 contribution and adaptive method is developed to improve the performance of MOPSO. First, a new global best solutions selection mechanism with R2 contribution is introduced to select leaders with better diversity and convergence. Second, to obtain a uniform distribution of particles, an adaptive method is used to guide the flight of particles. Third, a re-initialization strategy is proposed to prevent particles from trapping into local optima. Empirical studies on a large number (64 in total) of problem instances have demonstrated that ANMPSO performs well in terms of inverted generational distance and hyper-volume metrics. Experimental studies on the practical application have also revealed that ANMPSO could effectively solve problems in the real world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The firefly algorithm is nature-inspired, and it belongs to swarm intelligence category optimization. Firefly algorithm is the latest algorithm developed under the nature-inspired algorithm (NIA), which is fruitful for business and engineering optimization. So, for business optimization, healthcare industries are affected through big data where big data affects in different ways such as patients understanding and care, improved personalized care, analysis trends, predict health outcomes, etc. Big data analysis is required to optimize a broad set of data generated by the different mediums in the healthcare and engineering sectors. A firefly algorithm can be used to optimize data analysis and results. Therefore, the firefly algorithm becomes essential to optimize the healthcare sector application process and provides optimized solutions. This paper discussed firefly algorithm implementations, optimization solutions for an engineering problem, fireflies' algorithm (FA) performance through MATLAB 2019b, formulation, optimization problems in healthcare, firefly algorithms in other applications, and conclusions. This paper focuses on how the firefly algorithm (FA) can be used, modified, and merged with other optimization algorithms to solve engineering problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a preference-based multi-objective optimization task, the goal is to find a subset of the Pareto-optimal set close to a supplied set of aspiration points. The reference point based non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (R-NSGA-II) was proposed for such problem-solving tasks. R-NSGA-II aims to finding Pareto-optimal points close, in the sense of Euclidean distance in the objective space, to the supplied aspiration points, instead of finding the entire Pareto-optimal set. In this paper, R-NSGA-II method is modified using recently proposed Karush–Kuhn–Tucker proximity measure (KKTPM) and achievement scalarization function (ASF) metrics, instead of Euclidean distance metric. While a distance measure may not produce desired solutions, KKTPM-based distance measure allows a theoretically-convergent local or global Pareto solutions satisfying KKT optimality conditions and the ASF measure allows Pareto-compliant solutions to be found. A new technique for calculating KKTPM measure of a solution in the presence of an aspiration point is developed in this paper. The proposed modified R-NSGA-II methods are able to solve as many as 10-objective problems as effectively or better than the existing R-NSGA-II algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many optimization problems are expensive in practical applications. The surrogate-assisted optimization methods have attracted extensive attention as they can get satisfyingly optimal solutions in a limited computing resource. In this paper, we propose a two-stage infill strategy and surrogate-ensemble assisted optimization algorithm for solving expensive many-objective optimization problems. In this method, the population is optimized by a surrogate ensemble. Then a two-stage infill strategy is proposed to select individuals for real evaluations. The infill strategy considers individuals with better convergence or greater uncertainty. To calculate the uncertainty, we consider two aspects. One is the approximate variance of the current surrogate ensemble and the other one is the approximate variance of the historical surrogate ensemble. Finally, the population is revised by the recently updated surrogate ensemble. In experiments, we testify our method on two sets of many-objective benchmark problems. The results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed algorithm compared with the state-of-the-art algorithms for solving computationally expensive many-objective optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new stochastic optimization algorithm is introduced, called Driving Training-Based Optimization (DTBO), which mimics the human activity of driving training. The fundamental inspiration behind the DTBO design is the learning process to drive in the driving school and the training of the driving instructor. DTBO is mathematically modeled in three phases: (1) training by the driving instructor, (2) patterning of students from instructor skills, and (3) practice. The performance of DTBO in optimization is evaluated on a set of 53 standard objective functions of unimodal, high-dimensional multimodal, fixed-dimensional multimodal, and IEEE CEC2017 test functions types. The optimization results show that DTBO has been able to provide appropriate solutions to optimization problems by maintaining a proper balance between exploration and exploitation. The performance quality of DTBO is compared with the results of 11 well-known algorithms. The simulation results show that DTBO performs better compared to 11 competitor algorithms and is more efficient in optimization applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic load dispatch (eld) problem strives to optimize the division of total power demand among the power generators under specified constraints. It is solved by scheduling the generating units of a power plant that meet the load demand with minimum generation cost while satisfying various equality and inequality constraints. Achieving global optimal points is considered difficult due to the involvement of a non-linear objective function and large search domain. The slime mould algorithm (SMA) was recently proposed to solve complex problems. Its convergence rate and capability of capturing optimal global solutions are pretty satisfactory. In this paper, a chaotic number-based slime mould algorithm (CSMA) is suggested for ELD problems the first time. Five test cases with different power demands have been considered to compare the performance of the proposed approach against SMA, salp swarm algorithm (SSA), moth flame optimizer (MFO), grey wolf optimizer (GWO), biogeography based optimizer (BBO), grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA), multi-verse optimizer (MVO) on 6, 13, 15, 40, and 140 generators ELD problems. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm reduces the total generation cost significantly. CSMA outperformed SMA in all test cases that justify the effectiveness of chaotic sequences used in the proposed work. Further, three statistical tests have been conducted to justify the competitiveness of the suggested approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel optimization algorithm called hybrid salp swarm algorithm with teaching-learning based optimization (HSSATLBO) is proposed in this paper to solve reliability redundancy allocation problems (RRAP) with nonlinear resource constraints. Salp swarm algorithm (SSA) is one of the newest meta-heuristic algorithms which mimic the swarming behaviour of salps. It is an efficient swarm optimization technique that has been used to solve various kinds of complex optimization problems. However, SSA suffers a slow convergence rate due to its poor exploitation ability. In view of this inadequacy and resulting in a better balance between exploration and exploitation, the proposed hybrid method HSSATLBO has been developed where the searching procedures of SSA are renovated based on the TLBO algorithm. The good global search ability of SSA and fast convergence of TLBO help to maximize the system reliability through the choices of redundancy and component reliability. The performance of the proposed HSSATLBO algorithm has been demonstrated by seven well-known benchmark problems related to reliability optimization that includes series system, complex (bridge) system, series-parallel system, overspeed protection system, convex system, mixed series-parallel system, and large-scale system with dimensions 36, 38, 40, 42 and 50. After illustration, the outcomes of the proposed HSSATLBO are compared with several recently developed competitive meta-heuristic algorithms and also with three improved variants of SSA. Additionally, the HSSATLBO results are statistically investigated with the wilcoxon sign-rank test and multiple comparison test to show the significance of the results. The experimental results suggest that HSSATLBO significantly outperforms other algorithms and has become a remarkable and promising tool for solving RRAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel hybrid optimization algorithm named GPOFWA, which integrates political optimizer (PO) with fireworks algorithm (FWA) to solve numerical and engineering optimization problems. The original PO uses subgroup optimal solutions such as party leaders and constituency winners to guide the movement of the search agent. However, the number of such subgroup optimal solutions is limited, which leads to insufficient global exploration capabilities of PO. In addition, the recent past-based position updating strategy (RPPUS) of PO lacks effective verification of the updated candidate solutions, which reduces the convergence speed of the algorithm. The proposed hybrid algorithm uses the spark explosion mechanism in FWA to perform explosion spark and Gauss explosion spark operations on the subgroup optimal solutions (party leader and constituency winner) respectively based on the greedy strategy, which optimizes the subgroup optimal solution and enhances the exploitative ability of the algorithm. Moreover, Gaussian explosion sparks are also used to correct the candidate solutions after RPPUS, which makes up for the shortcomings of the original PO. In addition, a new subgroup optimal solution called the Converged Mobile Center (CMC) based on two-way consideration is designed to guide the movement of search agents and maintain the population diversity. We test the presented hybrid algorithm on 30 well-known benchmark functions, CEC2019 benchmark functions and three engineering optimization problems. The experimental results show that GPOFWA is superior to many statE−of-thE−art methods in terms of the quality of the resulting solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salp swarm algorithm (SSA) is a relatively new and straightforward swarm-based meta-heuristic optimization algorithm, which is inspired by the flocking behavior of salps when foraging and navigating in oceans. Although SSA is very competitive, it suffers from some limitations including unbalanced exploration and exploitation operation, slow convergence. Therefore, this study presents an improved version of SSA, called OOSSA, to enhance the comprehensive performance of the basic method. In preference, a new opposition-based learning strategy based on optical lens imaging principle is proposed, and combined with the orthogonal experimental design, an orthogonal lens opposition-based learning technique is designed to help the population jump out of a local optimum. Next, the scheme of adaptively adjusting the number of leaders is embraced to boost the global exploration capability and improve the convergence speed. Also, a dynamic learning strategy is applied to the canonical methodology to improve the exploitation capability. To confirm the efficacy of the proposed OOSSA, this paper uses 26 standard mathematical optimization functions with various features to test the method. Alongside, the performance of the proposed methodology is validated by Wilcoxon signed-rank and Friedman statistical tests. Additionally, three well-known engineering optimization problems and unknown parameters extraction issue of photovoltaic model are applied to check the ability of the OOSA algorithm to obtain solutions to intractable real-world problems. The experimental results reveal that the developed OOSSA is significantly superior to the standard SSA, currently popular SSA-based algorithms, and other state-of-the-artmeta-heuristic algorithms for solving numerical optimization, real-world engineering optimization, and photovoltaic model parameter extraction problems. Finally, an OOSSA-based path planning approach is developed for creating the shortest obstacle-free route for autonomous mobile robots. Our introduced method is compared with several successful swarm-based metaheuristic techniques in five maps, and the comparative results indicate that the suggested approach can generate the shortest collision-free trajectory as compared to other peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crow search algorithm (CSA) is a novel meta-heuristic optimization algorithm based on the intelligent behavior of the crow population. Although the algorithm has the characteristics of few parameters, simple structure, and easy application, it has the shortcomings of low convergence accuracy and imbalance between exploration and exploitation capabilities. The occurrence of these issues is originated from crow learning from only one goal. In this paper, an improved crow search algorithm based on oppositional forgetting learning (OFLCSA) is proposed. In order to solve the shortcomings of CSA, the forgetting mechanism is introduced to help the algorithm jump out of the local optimum. Moreover, the opposition-based learning (OBL) strategy is combined with the forgetting mechanism to increase the probability of approaching the optimal solution. In addition, the elite crow and adaptive flight length are used to improve the convergence accuracy. To verify the performance of OFLCSA, experiments were conducted on the Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) 2014 and CEC 2019 benchmark functions. OFLCSA is compared with the ten state-of-the-art meta-heuristic optimization algorithms. Moreover, OFLCSA is evaluated by four real-world engineering applications. Experimental results and analysis show that OFLCSA is a competitive meta-heuristic optimization algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional least squares (LS) and gradient descent (GD) algorithms can estimate the parameters of the regression models. They can be inefficient when the models have complex structures: (1) the unknown parameters in the information vector make the algorithm be impossible to update the parameters; (2) the zigzagging nature of the gradient descent algorithm and the complex structures lead to slow convergence rates; and (3) the step-size and derivative function calculations may be unsolvable for complex nonlinear models. This paper proposes two kinds of algorithms for exponential nonlinear models. The first is the two-stage algorithm, which decomposes the complex model into a linear part and a nonlinear part, where the linear part is estimated using the LS algorithm and the nonlinear part is identified based on the GD algorithm. The second is the particle swarm optimization algorithm which can simultaneously obtain all the parameters. To increase the convergence rates, the Aitken method is also introduced. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the lack of relevant research on relationship constraints between facilities in the corridor allocation problem (CAP). In this paper, fixed position constraints and ordering constraints are considered in CAP, and the logistics cost is minimized. Considering that the existing search technology is complicated and time-consuming in dealing with such constrained CAP (cCAP), and immune clone selection algorithm with variable neighborhood operation (ICSAVNS) is provided for solving this problem. Two approaches to initial solution generation are designed to improve the quality of the initial population. A variable neighborhood search operator is embedded to improve the accuracy of the local search. A threshold is set in the mutation operation of the ICSAVNS to achieve population expansion better. A double index of sequences consisting of affinity values and constrained facility index values is used to select and reselect, achieving population compression in the clonal selection part. Finally, by exactly solving the model, the rationality of the model is verified. The hybrid clone selection algorithm is used to solve the cCAP and cbCAP benchmark instances of different sizes, and compared with the state-of-the-art optimization algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithm exhibits better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As compared with other optimization algorithms (e.g., genetic algorithm, ant colony algorithm, and particle swarm algorithm), FA is relatively simple to be realized. It does not require strict continuous and differentiable conditions, requires less prior knowledge. However, it still cannot effectively avoid slow convergence and poor stability. To optimize FA for the attraction model, a new FA with mean condition partial attraction is proposed (mcFA) in this paper. McFA, characterized by fast computing power, high precision, and easy implementation, is capable of remedying the defect that the FA is easy to converge slowly. As opposed to standard FA, mcFA has determined excellent model parameter values, and the mean condition partial attraction model is more suitable for different dimensional solutions than the full attraction model. Lastly, as verified by the theoretical and experimental results, mcFA outperforms other algorithms on most of the test functions. Moreover, the mean condition partial attraction model is shown to yield better solutions than the full attraction model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software defined network (SDN) is a new modern network technology which decouples control plane and data plane to simplify network management. The separation of control plane from data plane arises the control placement problem (CPP) in these networks. The main questions in the CPP are (1) how many controllers are required to be used in such networks and (2) where these controllers should be placed. To achieve an efficient solution for such problem in SDN, we define the CPP as a multi-objective combinational optimization problem in this paper and solve the CPP by applying the antlion optimization algorithm on it. We consider three metrics for the CPP: (a) Inter-controllers latency, (b) switch to controller latency, and (c) multiple disjoint connectivity paths between switches and controllers. We evaluate our proposed solution by performing several experiments using different real network topologies. Experimental results show that our proposed solution provides better performance compared to the existing solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big data analytics in cloud environments introduces challenges such as real-time load balancing besides security, privacy, and energy efficiency. This paper proposes a novel load balancing algorithm in cloud environments that performs resource allocation and task scheduling efficiently. The proposed load balancer reduces the execution response time in big data applications performed on clouds. Scheduling, in general, is an NP-hard problem. Our proposed algorithm provides solutions to reduce the search area that leads to reduced complexity of the load balancing. We recommend two mathematical optimization models to perform dynamic resource allocation to virtual machines and task scheduling. The provided solution is based on the hill-climbing algorithm to minimize response time. We evaluate the performance of proposed algorithms in terms of response time, turnaround time, throughput metrics, and request distribution with some of the existing algorithms that show significant improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metaheuristic optimization algorithms are relatively new optimization algorithms introduced to solve optimization problems in recent years. For example, the firefly algorithm (FA) is one of the metaheuristic algorithms inspired by the fireflies' flashing behavior. However, its weakness in terms of exploration and early convergence has been pointed out. In this paper, two approaches were proposed to improve the FA. In the first proposed approach, a new improved opposition-based learning FA (IOFA) method was presented to accelerate the convergence and improve the FA's exploration capability. In the second proposed approach, a symbiotic organisms search (SOS) algorithm improved the exploration and exploitation of the first approach; two new parameters set these two goals, and the second approach was named IOFASOS. The purpose of the second method is that in the process of the SOS algorithm, the whole population is effective in the IOFA method to find solutions in the early stages of implementation, and with each iteration, fewer solutions are affected in the population. The experiments on 24 standard benchmark functions were conducted, and the first proposed approach showed a better performance in the small and medium dimensions and exhibited a relatively moderate performance in the higher dimensions. In contrast, the second proposed approach was better in increasing dimensions. In general, the empirical results showed that the two new approaches outperform other algorithms in most mathematical benchmarking functions. Thus, The IOFASOS model has more efficient solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to use complex computer simulations in quantitative analysis and decision-making is highly desired in science and engineering, at the same rate as computation capabilities and first-principle knowledge advance. Due to the complexity of simulation models, direct embedding of equation-based optimization solvers may be impractical and data-driven optimization techniques are often needed. In this work, we present a novel data-driven spatial branch-and-bound algorithm for simulation-based optimization problems with box constraints, aiming for consistent globally convergent solutions. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of the concept data-driven convex underestimators of data and surrogate functions, which are employed within a spatial branch-and-bound algorithm. The algorithm is showcased by an illustrative example and is then extensively studied via computational experiments on a large set of benchmark problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of cloud computing has brought about significant developments in information technology. Users can benefit from the multitude of cloud technology services only by connecting to the internet. In cloud computing, load balancing is the fundamental issue that has challenged experts in this research area. Load balancing helps increase user satisfaction and enhance systems' productivity through efficient and fair work assignments between computing resources. Besides, maintaining a load balancing among resources would be difficult because the resources are usually distributed in a heterogeneous way. Many load-balancing methods try to solve this problem by the metaheuristics algorithm, and each of them attempted to enhance the operation and efficiency of systems. In this paper, Grey wolf optimization (GWO) algorithm has been used based on the resource reliability capability to maintain proper load balancing. In this method, first, the GWO algorithm tries to find the unemployed or busy nodes and, after discovering this node, try to calculate each node's threshold and fitness function. The results of simulation in CloudSim showed that the costs and response time in the proposed method are less than the other methods, and the obtained solutions are ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data-driven optimization has found many successful applications in the real world and received increased attention in the field of evolutionary optimization. Most existing algorithms assume that the data used for optimization are always available on a central server for construction of surrogates. This assumption, however, may fail to hold when the data must be collected in a distributed way and are subject to privacy restrictions. This paper aims to propose a federated data-driven evolutionary multi-/many-objective optimization algorithm. To this end, we leverage federated learning for surrogate construction so that multiple clients collaboratively train a radial-basis-function-network as the global surrogate. Then a new federated acquisition function is proposed for the central server to approximate the objective values using the global surrogate and estimate the uncertainty level of the approximated objective values based on the local models. The performance of the proposed algorithm is verified on a series of multi-/many-objective benchmark problems by comparing it with two state-of-the-art surrogate-assisted multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is a new meta-heuristic algorithm for mathematical description of the foraging behavior of whales. Cloud model (CM) is an effective model to describe cognitive uncertainty, at the same time, it can comprehensively describe the randomness and fuzziness in uncertain phenomena. Skew normal distribution (SND) can better describe the biological behavior situation when the environment changes. In this paper, a new skew normal cloud model (SNCM) is established in the first place by combining the CM with the SND and the skew normal membership function to describe the fuzziness and randomness of environmental change. Secondly,because of the randomness and fuzziness of the whales' foraging behavior, in order to improve the exploration and exploitation ability of WOA,an emendatory WOA based on the skew normal cloud (SNC) is proposed through the use of the SNCM to modify the shrinking encircling and spiral update strategies of WOA, and the adaptive position and skewness parameters in the SNC are designed to increase the exploration capability in prophase and the exploitation capability in anaphase. Lastly,the experimental results of the complex CEC2017 test set verify the effectiveness of the emendatory WOA under different strategies and different dimensions and different improved WOA algorithm and other representative heuristic algorithms. Three degree reduction of S − λ curves verify the practicability of the the modified WOA in the field of curve design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of multimodal optimization problems (MMOPs) is to find and deal with multiple optimal solutions using an objective function. MMOPs perform the exploration and exploitation simultaneously in the search space. The novelty of this paper includes the following improvements in differential evolution to be able to solve MMOPs. Clusters are formed from the whole population by applying a niching technique which uses the softmax strategy to assign a cutting probability to the species. Then iterative mutation strategy is followed to generate the unbiased mutant vector. Further, Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) strategy is used to ensure that new individuals are generated in promising areas. The experimentation of the proposed algorithm has been performed on 20 benchmark functions from IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2013 (CEC2013). The results depict that the proposed algorithm can be compared with 15 state-of-the-art multimodal optimization algorithms in terms of locating accurate optimal solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous optimization of several competing objectives requires increasing the capability of optimization algorithms. This paper proposes the multi-objective moth swarm algorithm, for the first time, to solve various multi-objective problems. In the proposed algorithm, a new definition for pathfinder moths and moonlight was proposed to enhance the synchronization capability as well as to maintain a good spread of non-dominated solutions. In addition, the crowding-distance mechanism was employed to select the most efficient solutions within the population. This mechanism indicates the distribution of non-dominated solutions around a particular non-dominated solution. Accordingly, a set of non-dominated solutions obtained by the proposed multi-objective algorithm is kept in an archive to be used later for improving its exploratory capability. The capability of the proposed MOMSA was investigated by a set of multi-objective benchmark problems having 7 to 30 dimensions. The results were compared with three well-known meta-heuristics of multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition (MOEA/D), Pareto envelope-based selection algorithm II (PESA-II), and multi-objective ant lion optimizer (MOALO). Four metrics of generational distance (GD), spacing (S), spread (Δ), and maximum spread (MS) were employed for comparison purposes. The qualitative and quantitative results indicated the superior performance and the higher capability of the proposed MOMSA algorithm over the other algorithms. The MOMSA algorithm with the average values of CPU time = 2771 s, GD = 0.138, S = 0.063, Δ = 1.053, and MS = 0.878 proved to be a robust and reliable model for multi-objective optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel decomposition framework for derivative-free optimization (DFO) algorithms. Our framework significantly extends the scope of current DFO solvers to larger-scale problems. We show that the proposed framework closely relates to the superiorization methodology that is traditionally used for improving the efficiency of feasibility-seeking algorithms for constrained optimization problems in a derivative-based setting. We analyze the convergence behavior of the framework in the context of global search algorithms. A practical implementation is developed and exemplified with the global model-based solver Stable Noisy Optimization by Branch and Fit (SNOBFIT) [36]. To investigate the decomposition framework's performance, we conduct extensive computational studies on a collection of over 300 test problems of varying dimensions and complexity. We observe significant improvements in the quality of solutions for a large fraction of the test problems. Regardless of problem convexity and smoothness, decomposition leads to over 50% improvement in the objective function after 2500 function evaluations for over 90% of our test problems with more than 75 variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new design approach of approximately linear phase infinite impulse response (IIR) low pass digital differentiator (LPDD) is proposed and studied. The proposed design is based on a transfer function that has a numerator with anti-symmetric coefficients. To better control the magnitude response of the designed LPDD, the differential evolution (DE) optimization algorithm is used to find the coefficients of the transfer function that meets an appropriate pass band and stop band edge frequencies. The use of appropriate pass band and stop band edge frequencies gives the designer of the LPDD direct control on the width of the transition band. The designed LPDD using the proposed approach has approximately linear phase and much better magnitude response than that of the IIR LPDDs designed using other techniques reported in literature. In addition, the designed LPDD using the proposed approach has steeper roll-off magnitude response and narrower transition band than that of designed IIR and high order FIR LPDDs available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel hybrid many-objective evolutionary algorithm called Reference Vector Guided Evolutionary Algorithm based on hypervolume indicator (H-RVEA) is proposed in this paper. The reference vectors are used in a number of sub-problems to decompose the optimization problem. An adaptation strategy is used in the proposed algorithm to adjust the reference vector distribution. The proposed algorithm is compared over well-known benchmark test functions with five state-of-the-art evolutionary algorithms. The results show H-RVEA's superior performance in terms of the inverted generational distance and hypervolume performance measures than the competitor algorithms. The suggested algorithm's computational complexity is also analysed. The statistical tests are carried out to demonstrate the statistical significance of the proposed algorithm. In order to demonstrate its efficiency, H-RVEA is also applied to solve two real-life constrained many-objective optimization problems. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm can solve the many-objective real-life problems. Note that the source codes of the proposed technique are available at http://dhimangaurav.com/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two levels of enhancing the basic Moth flame optimization (MFO) algorithm. The first step is hybridizing MFO and the local-based algorithm, hill climbing (HC), called MFOHC. The proposed algorithm takes the advantages of HC to speed up the searching, as well as enhancing the learning technique for finding the generation of candidate solutions of basic MFO. The second step is the addition of six popular selection schemes to improve the quality of the selected solution by giving a chance to solve with high fitness value to be chosen and increase the diversity. In both steps of enhancing, thirty benchmark functions and five IEEE CEC 2011 real-world problems are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed versions. In addition, well-known and recent meta-heuristic algorithms are applied to compare with the proposed versions. The experiment results illustrate that the proportional selection scheme with MFOHC, namely (PMFOHC) is outperforming the other proposed versions and algorithms in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present two novel algorithms for information space topological planning that identify topological features in an information field and use them to plan maximally informative paths for a robot in an information gathering task. These features provide a way to rapidly incorporate global context into the informative path planning process by partitioning the state space or the path space of a robot. Our first algorithm, hierarchical hotspot information gathering, uses a topological state space partitioning by constructing a high-level map of information hotspots. We then solve a global scheduling problem over the topological graph, the solution of which is then used for path planning by a set of local greedy coverage planners within each hotspot. Our second algorithm, Topology-Aware Self Organizing Maps, extends the Self Organizing Map algorithm to discover prominent topological features in the information function. These features are used to perform a topological path space decomposition to provide a Stochastic Gradient Ascent optimization algorithm with topologically diverse initialization, improving its performance. In simulated trials and field experiments, we compare the tradeoffs of these two approaches and show that our methods that leverage topological features of the information field consistently perform competitively or better than methods that do not exploit these features, while requiring less computation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clustering analysis is a popular data analysis technology that has been successfully applied in many fields, such as pattern recognition, machine learning, image processing, data mining, computer vision and fuzzy control. Clustering analysis has made great progress in these fields. The purpose of clustering analysis is to classify data according to their intrinsic attributes such that data that have the same characteristics are in the same class and data that differ are in different classes. Currently, the k-means clustering algorithm is one of the most commonly used clustering methods because it is simple and easy to implement. However, its performance largely depends on the initial solution, and it easily falls into locally optimal solutions during the execution of the algorithm. To overcome the shortcomings of k-means clustering, many scholars have used meta-heuristic optimization algorithms to solve data clustering problems and have obtained satisfactory results. Therefore, in this paper, a selfish herd optimization algorithm based on the simplex method (SMSHO) is proposed. In SMSHO, the simplex method replaces mating operations to generate new prey individuals. The incorporation of the simplex method increases the population diversity of algorithm, thereby improving the global searching ability of algorithm. Twelve clustering datasets are selected to verify the performance of SMSHO in solving clustering problems. The SMSHO is compared with ABC, BPFPA, DE, k-means, PSO, SMSSO and SHO. The experimental results show that SMSHO has faster convergence speed, higher accuracy and higher stability than the other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitive swarm optimizer (CSO) has been shown to be an effective optimization algorithm for large scale optimization. However, the learning strategy of a loser particle used in CSO is axis-parallel. Then, it may not be able to solve the high ill-conditioned test functions due to the lack of considering the correlation of different component. This paper presents an enhanced competitive swarm optimizer with covariance matrix adaptation to alleviate this problem. Since covariance matrix is independent of the coordinate system, covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) is embedded into CSO. On the one hand, better particles generated by CMA-ES can provide an effective way to capture the efficient search direction. On the other hand, some high-quality particles are employed to estimate the covariance matrix of Gaussian model. Then, the evolution direction information is integrated into the learned Gaussian model to improve search efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Experimental and statistical analyses are performed on CEC2014 benchmark functions, engineering design problems and time series prediction problems. Results show that the proposed algorithm has a superior performance in comparison with other state-of-the-art optimization algorithms and some variants of CSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a methodology to design and optimize a controllable pitch propeller suitable for small leisure ship boats. A proper range for design parameters has to be set by the user. An optimization based on the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is carried out to minimize a fitness function representing the engine's fuel consumption. The OpenProp code has been integrated in the procedure to compute thrust and torque. Blade's geometry and tables about pitch, thrust and consumption are the main output of the optimization process. A case study has been included to show how the procedure can be implemented in the design process. A case study shows that the procedure allows a designer to sketch a controllable pitch propeller with optimal efficiency; computational times are compatible with the design conceptual phase where several scenarios must be investigated to set the most suitable for the following detailed design. A drawback of this approach is given by the need for a quite skilled user in charge of defining the allowable ranges for design parameters, and the need for data about the engine and boat to be designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similar to other swarm-based algorithms, the recently developed whale optimization algorithm (WOA) has the problems of low accuracy and slow convergence. It is also easy to fall into local optimum. Moreover, WOA and its variants cannot perform well enough in solving high-dimensional optimization problems. This paper puts forward a new improved WOA with joint search mechanisms called JSWOA for solving the above disadvantages. First, the improved algorithm uses tent chaotic map to maintain the diversity of the initial population for global search. Second, a new adaptive inertia weight is given to improve the convergence accuracy and speed, together with jump out from local optimum. Finally, to enhance the quality and diversity of the whale population, as well as increase the probability of obtaining global optimal solution, opposition-based learning mechanism is used to update the individuals of the whale population continuously during each iteration process. The performance of the proposed JSWOA is tested by twenty-three benchmark functions of various types and dimensions. Then, the results are compared with the basic WOA, several variants of WOA and other swarm-based intelligent algorithms. The experimental results show that the proposed JSWOA algorithm with multi-mechanisms is superior to WOA and the other state-of-the-art algorithms in the competition, exhibiting remarkable advantages in the solution accuracy and convergence speed. It is also suitable for dealing with high-dimensional global optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an improved Harris hawk optimizer (IHHO) to overcome the shortcomings of Harris hawk optimizer (HHO) that there is aimless search in the global search process. IHHO is different from HHO in that during the global search process, the position of the Harris hawks is not random but moves according to the position of the best several Harris hawks in the population. The advantage of the new global search process in the IHHO is that it effectively improves the quality of candidate solutions. We use the proposed algorithm to solve job-shop scheduling problem, which is an NP-hard problem and also a very challenging optimization problem, because it is difficult to find a reasonable candidate solution in polynomial time. Many researchers have tried various methods to solve it, but failed to get an effective result. Therefore, we use it to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results of IHHO are compared with those of improved genetic algorithm, differential evolution and HHO. It can be seen from the experimental results that IHHO has obvious advantages compared with the results of other comparison algorithms in terms of convergence accuracy, convergence speed, stability and running time. The experimental results of Wilcoxon's rank sum test also show that the IHHO is essentially different from other comparison algorithms, which shows that the optimization performance of the IHHO is meaningful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]