Adaptive-Uniform-Experimental-Design-Based Fractional-Order Particle Swarm Optimizer with Non-Linear Time-Varying Evolution.

An adaptive-uniform-experimental-design-based fractional particle swarm optimizer (AUFPSO) with non-linear time-varying evolution (NTE) is proposed. A particle swarm optimizer (PSO) is an excellent evolutionary algorithm due to its simple structure and rapid convergence. Nevertheless, PSO has notable drawbacks. Although many proposed methods and strategies have enhanced its effectiveness and performance, PSO is limited by its tendency to fall into local optima and its tendency to obtain different solutions in each search (i.e., its weak robustness). Introducing fractional-order calculus in PSO (FPSO) can correct the order of the velocity derivative for each particle, which enhances the diversity and algorithmic effectiveness. This study used NTE of the order of the velocity derivative, inertia weight, cognitive parameter, and social parameter in an FPSO used to search for a global optimal solution. To obtain the best combination of FPSO and NTE, an adaptive uniform experimental design (AUED) method was used to deal with this essential issue. The AUED method integrates a uniform layout with the best combination phase and a stepwise ratio to assist in selecting the best combination for FPSO-NTE. Experimental applications in 15 global numerical optimization problems confirmed that the AUFPSO-NTE had a better performance and robustness than existing PSO-related algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]