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In transport planning, one should allow passengers to travel through the complicated transportation scheme with efficient use of different modes of transport. In this paper, we propose the use of a cockroach swarm optimization algorithm for determining paths with the shortest travel time. In our approach, this algorithm has been modified to work with the time-expanded model. Therefore, we present how the algorithm has to be adapted to this model, including correctly creating solutions and defining steps and movement in the search space. By introducing the proposed modifications, we are able to solve journey planning. The results have shown that the performance of our approach, in terms of converging to the best solutions, is satisfactory. Moreover, we have compared our results with Dijkstra's algorithm and a particle swarm optimization algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) algorithm is a relatively new algorithm in the field of swarm intelligence for solving continuous optimization problems as well as real world optimization problems. The Grey Wolf Optimizer is the only algorithm in the category of swam intelligence which is based on leadership hierarchy. This paper has three important aspects- Firstly, for improving the search ability by grey wolf a modified algorithm RW-GWO based on random walk has been proposed. Secondly, its performance is exhibited in comparison with GWO and state of art algorithms GSA, CS, BBO and SOS on IEEE CEC 2014 benchmark problems. A non-parametric test Wilcoxon and Performance Index Analysis has been performed to observe the impact of improving the leaders in the proposed algorithm. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that the proposed algorithm provide a better leadership to search a prey by grey wolves. The third aspect of the paper is to use the proposed algorithm and GWO on real life application problems. It is concluded from this article that RW-GWO algorithm is an efficient and reliable algorithm for solving not only continuous optimization problems but also for real life optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his seminal paper published in 2002, Passino pointed out how individual and groups of bacteria forage nutrients and how to model it as a distributed optimization process, which he called the bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (BFOA). One of the major driving forces of BFOA is the chemotactic movement of a virtual bacterium that models a trial solution of the optimization problem. This paper presents mathematical analysis of the chemotactic step in BFOA from the viewpoint of the classical gradient descent search. The analysis points out that "the chemotaxis employed by classical BFOA usually results in sustained oscillation, especially on flat fitness landscapes, when a bacterium cell is close to the optima. To accelerate the convergence speed of the group of bacteria near the global optima, two simple schemes for adapting the chemotactic step height have been proposed. Computer simulations over several numerical benchmarks indicate that BFOA with the adaptive chemotactic operators shows better convergence behavior, compared to the classical BFOA. The paper finally investigates an interesting application of the proposed adaptive variants of BFOA to the frequency-modulated sound wave synthesis problem, appearing in the field of communication engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper summarizes the two testbeds, datasets, and results of the IEEE PES Working Group on Modern Heuristic Optimization (WGMHO) 2017 Competition on Smart Grid Operation Problems. The competition is organized with the aim of closing the gap between theory and real-world applications of evolutionary computation. Testbed 1 considers stochastic OPF (Optimal Power Flow) based Active-Reactive Power Dispatch (ARPD) under uncertainty and Testbed 2 large-scale optimal scheduling of distributed energy resources. Classical optimization methods are not able to deal with the proposed optimization problems within a reasonable time, often requiring more than one day to provide the optimal solution and a significant amount of memory to perform the computation. The proposed problems can be addressed using modern heuristic optimization approaches, enabling the achievement of good solutions in much lower execution times, adequate for the envisaged decision-making processes. Results from the competition show that metaheuristics can be successfully applied in search of efficient near-optimal solutions for the Stochastic Optimal Power Flow and large-scale energy resource management problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clustering is a popular data analysis and data mining technique. It is the unsupervised classification of patterns into groups. Many algorithms for large data sets have been proposed in the literature using different techniques. However, conventional algorithms have some shortcomings such as slowness of the convergence, sensitive to initial value and preset classed in large scale data set etc. and they still require much investigation to improve performance and efficiency. Over the last decade, clustering with ant-based and swarm-based algorithms are emerging as an alternative to more traditional clustering techniques. Many complex optimization problems still exist, and it is often very difficult to obtain the desired result with one of these algorithms alone. Thus, robust and flexible techniques of optimization are needed to generate good results for clustering data. Some algorithms that imitate certain natural principles, known as evolutionary algorithms have been used in a wide variety of real-world applications. Recently, much research has been proposed using hybrid evolutionary algorithms to solve the clustering problem. This paper provides a survey of hybrid evolutionary algorithms for cluster analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, heuristic algorithms are widely used in solving problems in different fields of science and engineering. Most of these methods are inspired by natural phenomena, such as biological behaviours or physical principles. In this paper, a new optimization method based on the dynamic of sliding motion along a frictionless inclined plane is introduced. In the proposed algorithm, a collection of agents cooperate with each other and move toward better positions in the search space by employing Newton's second law and equations of motion. Our method is compared with other popular optimization algorithms and the results on 23 standard benchmark functions show its effectiveness in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recently, Gandomi and Alavi proposed a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm, called Krill Herd (KH), for global optimization [Gandomi AH, Alavi AH. Krill Herd: A New Bio-Inspired Optimization Algorithm. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 17(12), 4831–4845, 2012.]. This paper represents an optimization method to global optimization using a novel variant of KH. This method is called the Stud Krill Herd (SKH). Similar to genetic reproduction mechanisms added to KH method, an updated genetic reproduction schemes, called stud selection and crossover (SSC) operator, is introduced into the KH during the krill updating process dealing with numerical optimization problems. The introduced SSC operator is originated from original Stud genetic algorithm. In SSC operator, the best krill, the Stud, provides its optimal information for all the other individuals in the population using general genetic operators instead of stochastic selection. This approach appears to be well capable of solving various functions. Several problems are used to test the SKH method. In addition, the influence of the different crossover types on convergence and performance is carefully studied. Experimental results indicate an instructive addition to the portfolio of swarm intelligence techniques. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Particle swarm optimization is a novel swarm-intelligence-based algorithm and a valid optimization technique. However, the algorithm suffers from the premature convergence problem when facing to complex optimization problem. In order to keep the balance between the global exploration and the local exploitation validly, the paper develops a knowledge-based cooperative particle swarm optimization (KCPSO). KCPSO mainly simulates the self-cognitive and self-learning process of evolutionary agents in special environment, and introduces a knowledge billboard to record varieties of search information. Moreover, KCPSO takes advantage of multi-swarm to maintain the swarm diversity and tries to guide their evolution by the shared information. Under the guide of the shared information, KCPSO manipulates each sub-swarm to go on with local exploitation in different local area, in which every particle follows a social learning behavior mode; at the same time, KCPSO carries out the global exploration through the escaping behavior and the cooperative behavior of the particles in different sub-swarms. KCPSO can maintain appropriate swarm diversity and alleviate the premature convergence validly. The proposed model was applied to some well-known benchmarks. The relative experimental results show KCPSO is a robust global optimization method for the complex multimodal functions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

How to manage trade-off between exploitation and exploration in Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for efficiently solving various optimization problems is an important issue. In order to prevent premature convergence in PSO search, this paper proposes a new method, Particle Swarm Optimization with Diversive Curiosity (PSO/DC). A key idea of the proposed method is to introduce a mechanism of diversive curiosity into PSO for preventing premature convergence and for managing the exploration-exploitation trade-off. Diversive curiosity is represented by an internal indicator that detects marginal improvement of a swarm of particles for certain number of iterations, and forces them to continually explore an optimal solution to a given optimization problem. Applications of the proposed method to a 2-dimensional optimization problem well demonstrate its effectiveness. Our experimental results indicate that the performance (100%) by the proposed method is superior in terms of success ratio to that (60%) by the PSO model optimized by EPSO, and basically accord with the finding called "the zone of curiosity" in psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]