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Economic dispatch (ED) problem is a popular optimization problem in electrical engineering. Many studies that handled ED problem employed metaheuristics as the optimization technique. Unfortunately, these metaheuristics are old or the existing ones. Meanwhile, ED problem is not the favourite constrained case in studies that introduced a novel metaheuristic. This research introduces a novel metaheuristic called quadratic time optimization (QTO). QTO comprises three sequential searches where both diversification and intensification are blended in every search. But the portion of both orientations changes by following the quadratic time. The appraisal of QTO is performed by employing it to solve both unconstrained and constrained problems. The 23 traditional functions represent the unconstrained problem while economic load dispatch (ELD) problem with valve point effect and spinning reserve problem represents the constrained problem. In both appraisals, there are five novel metaheuristics represent the benchmarks, including: walrus optimization algorithm (WaOA), coati optimization algorithm (COA), total interaction algorithm (TIA), addax optimization algorithm (AOA), and language education optimization (LEO). The result shows the competitiveness of the proposed QTO in handling both unconstrained and constrained problems. QTO becomes the first best in 8 functions out of 23 functions including five high dimension unimodal functions, two high dimension multimodal functions, and one fixed dimension multimodal functions. The result also shows that QTO is competitive in three use cases in ELD problems as the ratio between the range and average total cost among metaheuristics for the first, second, and third cases is 0.72, 0.04, and 0.02 percent consecutively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of optimization techniques for achieving the optimal design of cellular beams. The incorporation of gaps within cellular beams reduces the weight of the beam and increases section height, resulting in the production of lighter and stronger sections. The Taguchi method is employed to fine-tune the parameters of the Grey Wolf Optimizer, enabling the achievement of a robust design. The performance of each algorithm is evaluated through three design examples, facilitating comprehensive comparisons among the seven algorithms. Moreover, the study encompasses the modeling and analysis of optimally designed cellular beams using finite element software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives a review on the bio-inspired optimization methodology known as mayfly (MA) algorithm in order to resolve issues in optimization techniques. It is a newly formed meta-heuristic optimization algorithm that focuses on the movements of masculine and feminine mayflies. It is encouraged from flying behaviour also the methods of mating in mayflies. With the help of a realistic-world separate flow planning issue along with the coupling behaviour in numerous objective optimizations, the performance of the mayfly algorithm (MA) is well evaluated. Some of the implementations of this algorithm are discussed in this paper: Bearing fault diagnosis based on the mayfly algorithm, optimizing the performance of PEMFC, Covid diagnosis, wind speed optimization, improving the scheduling of solar wind speed using mayfly optimization, detecting fault in the wind turbine gearboxes, patterning in the array antennas with the help of optimization and so on. One of the main advantages of the MA is that it combines the other optimization algorithms namely swarm optimization (PSO) with the evolutionary optimizations (GA). The motion of the mayflies that resemble nuptial dance model along with the arbitrary flight helps in the improvement of the stability within the exploration and exploitation methods. In addition, allows escape from the community peak. All the above work reviewed shows promising results from the algorithm. More work can be carried out using this algorithm in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many new metaheuristic algorithms prioritize their search strategy phase, often neglecting equally critical stages like initialization. Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) is one technique that stands out in this context. LHS selects representative samples through permutations in a multidimensional space, effectively preventing the clustering of points in specific areas. However, its limitations become apparent in high-dimensional problems, as it fails to provide crucial search space information and struggles to determine samples across all dimensions. Addressing these challenges, this paper introduces an innovative population initialization approach, combining the strengths of LHS with evolutionary behaviors. This technique is divided into two main sections: spatial and quality. The spatial section divides the search space into equal intervals across each dimension to establish initial solutions. Meanwhile, the quality section employs evolutionary strategies like mutation and crossover. These strategies serve a dual purpose: they explore the search space thoroughly and refine solutions, bringing them closer to the objective function. To validate the effectiveness of this method, these principles have been integrated it into the classic Differential Evolution algorithm. We conducted extensive tests using 30 representative benchmark functions to assess its performance. The experimental results are encouraging; our methodology not only speeds up convergence but also enhances solution quality, outperforming other similar techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurodegenerative conditions significantly impact patient quality of life. Many conditions do not have a cure, but with appropriate and timely treatment the advance of the disease could be diminished. However, many patients only seek a diagnosis once the condition progresses to a point at which the quality of life is significantly impacted. Effective non-invasive and readily accessible methods for early diagnosis can considerably enhance the quality of life of patients affected by neurodegenerative conditions. This work explores the potential of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for patient gain freezing associated with Parkinson's disease. Sensor data collected from wearable gyroscopes located at the sole of the patient's shoe record walking patterns. These patterns are further analyzed using convolutional networks to accurately detect abnormal walking patterns. The suggested method is assessed on a public real-world dataset collected from parents affected by Parkinson's as well as individuals from a control group. To improve the accuracy of the classification, an altered variant of the recent crayfish optimization algorithm is introduced and compared to contemporary optimization metaheuristics. Our findings reveal that the modified algorithm (MSCHO) significantly outperforms other methods in accuracy, demonstrated by low error rates and high Cohen's Kappa, precision, sensitivity, and F1-measures across three datasets. These results suggest the potential of CNNs, combined with advanced optimization techniques, for early, non-invasive diagnosis of neurodegenerative conditions, offering a path to improve patient quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combinational logic circuits (CLCs) are basic building blocks of a system and optimization of these circuits in terms of reduced gates, transistors, or levels will lead to reduced area on chip, reduced power, and improved speed. Simulated annealing (SA) is a thermo-inspired metaheuristic used for solving various engineering and non-engineering problems. SA is also used for the realization and optimization of CLCs. Circuits with a large number of inputs and outputs require more generations for realization. Realization of the optimal circuit with fewer generations is desired as realization time increases with increase in the number of generations. In this paper, an attempt is made to realize circuits using population-based SA with fewer generations. SA with partitioning approach is proposed in this paper for circuits that could not be realized with fewer preset generations. To evaluate the performance of the proposed work, benchmark circuits from LGSynth'91 are considered, and it is observed that the success rate improved and realization time reduced with the proposed partitioning approach. During the evaluation, it is also observed that the gate count was reduced by 2.5–77.39% and the transistor count was reduced by 7.69–95.53% on using proposed work with fewer generations over circuits reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parameters of a Photovoltaic (PV) model are pivotal in gauging its efficiency under varying sunlight irradiances, temperatures, and different load scenarios. Determining these PV model parameters poses a complex non-linear optimization challenge. This study is based on a new metaheuristic optimization algorithm called the Pelican Optimization Algorithm (POA) to discern the unknown parameters of the PV model. The suggested POA algorithm underwent testing using a monocrystalline panel, encompassing its single-diode configuration. The objective function is designed to minimize the root of the mean squared errors between the predicted and actual current values, adhering to specific parameter constraints. Various statistical error metrics were utilized to emphasize the performance of the proposed algorithm. A comparative analysis with other well-established algorithms was conducted, indicating that POA stands out as highly competitive since it showcases superior efficiency in parameter identification compared to its counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sewer systems are a component of city infrastructure that requires large investment in construction and operation. Metaheuristic optimization methods have been used to solve sewer optimization problems. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of network size on metaheuristic optimization algorithms. Cuckoo Search (CS) and four versions of Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) were utilized for the hydraulic optimization of sewer networks. The purpose of using different algorithms is to investigate whether the results obtained differ depending on the algorithm. In addition, to eliminate the parameter effect, the relevant algorithms were run with different parameters, such as population size. These algorithms were performed on three different-sized networks, namely small-sized, medium-sized, and large-sized networks. Friedman and Wilcoxon tests were utilized to statistically analyze the results. The results were also evaluated in terms of the optimality gap criterion. According to the results based on the optimality gap, the performance of each algorithm decreases as the network size increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many optimization problems in engineering and industrial design applications can be formulated as optimization problems with highly nonlinear objectives, subject to multiple complex constraints. Solving such optimization problems requires sophisticated algorithms and optimization techniques. A major trend in recent years is the use of nature-inspired metaheustic algorithms (NIMA). Despite the popularity of nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithms, there are still some challenging issues and open problems to be resolved. Two main issues related to current NIMAs are: there are over 540 algorithms in the literature, and there is no unified framework to understand the search mechanisms of different algorithms. Therefore, this paper attempts to analyse some similarities and differences among different algorithms and then presents a generalized evolutionary metaheuristic (GEM) in an attempt to unify some of the existing algorithms. After a brief discussion of some insights into nature-inspired algorithms and some open problems, we propose a generalized evolutionary metaheuristic algorithm to unify more than 20 different algorithms so as to understand their main steps and search mechanisms. We then test the unified GEM using 15 test benchmarks to validate its performance. Finally, further research topics are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducts a comprehensive exploration of contemporary optimization algorithms, addressing challenges and outlining potential avenues for future research. The survey encompasses a wide spectrum of optimization techniques employed in various domains, ranging from mathematical programming to machine learning and artificial intelligence. It systematically analyses the inherent challenges faced by existing algorithms, including scalability issues, convergence speed, and adaptability to diverse problem spaces. Furthermore, the paper critically examines the impact of optimization algorithms on real-world applications, considering their effectiveness and limitations. The survey identifies emerging trends, such as hybrid approaches and metaheuristic methods that offer promising directions for overcoming current challenges. By synthesizing the state-of-the-art in optimization algorithms, this paper provides a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers, guiding them towards addressing existing limitations and unlocking new opportunities in the evolving landscape of optimization research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the important research issues in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is the optimal layout designing for the deployment of sensor nodes. It directly affects the quality of monitoring, cost, and detection capability of WSNs. Layout optimization is an NP-hard combinatorial problem, which requires optimization of multiple competing objectives like cost, coverage, connectivity, lifetime, load balancing, and energy consumption of sensor nodes. In the last decade, several meta-heuristic optimization techniques have been proposed to solve this problem, such as genetic algorithms (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). However, these approaches either provided computationally expensive solutions or covered a limited number of objectives, which are combinations of area coverage, the number of sensor nodes, energy consumption, and lifetime. In this study, a meta-heuristic multi-objective firefly algorithm (MOFA) is presented to solve the layout optimization problem. Here, the main goal is to cover a number of objectives related to optimal layouts of homogeneous WSNs, which includes coverage, connectivity, lifetime, energy consumption and the number of sensor nodes. Simulation results showed that MOFA created optimal Pareto front of non-dominated solutions with better hyper-volumes and spread of solutions, in comparison to multi-objective genetic algorithms (IBEA, NSGA-II) and particle swarm optimizers (OMOPSO, SMOPSO). Therefore, MOFA can be used in real-time deployment applications of large-scale WSNs to enhance their detection capability and quality of monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High levels of cholesterol can result in the hardening of arteries and the formation of fat deposits known as cholesterol plaques in blood vessels. These deposits can obstruct blood flow, leading to various health issues over time. Therefore, this research is proposed to explore the effectiveness of a new health-based metaheuristic algorithm inspired by the cholesterol metabolism of the human body. In the study, the main idea is to focus on the cholesterol algorithm's performance on unconstrained continuous optimization problems. The performances of the proposed cholesterol algorithm are evaluated based on 23 comparison tests and results were compared with Particle Swarm Optimization, Genetic Algorithm, Grey Wolf Optimization, Whale Optimization Algorithm, Harris Hawks Optimization, Differential Evolution, FireFly Algorithm, Cuckoo Search, Multi-Verse Optimizer, and JAYA algorithms. Results showed that this novel cholesterol algorithm implementation could compete effectively with the bestknown solution to test functions. The CA algorithm was tested only in continuous problems and did well in simple functions but it had some issues with convergence and exploration-exploitation control. Despite these problems, it showed promise by finding good results quickly in continuous optimization problems. Future research will test the CA algorithm in different problem types and real-world applications to improve its effectiveness. Only a few algorithms like ANN and AIS have been inspired by the health field. This study presents a novel health-based algorithm that utilizes the levels of cholesterol, a crucial element in the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, based on the concept of the NFL theorem, that there is no unique algorithm that has the best performance for all optimization problems, a new human-based metaheuristic algorithm called Language Education Optimization (LEO) is introduced, which is used to solve optimization problems. LEO is inspired by the foreign language education process in which a language teacher trains the students of language schools in the desired language skills and rules. LEO is mathematically modeled in three phases: (i) students selecting their teacher, (ii) students learning from each other, and (iii) individual practice, considering exploration in local search and exploitation in local search. The performance of LEO in optimization tasks has been challenged against fifty-two benchmark functions of a variety of unimodal, multimodal types and the CEC 2017 test suite. The optimization results show that LEO, with its acceptable ability in exploration, exploitation, and maintaining a balance between them, has efficient performance in optimization applications and solution presentation. LEO efficiency in optimization tasks is compared with ten well-known metaheuristic algorithms. Analyses of the simulation results show that LEO has effective performance in dealing with optimization tasks and is significantly superior and more competitive in combating the compared algorithms. The implementation results of the proposed approach to four engineering design problems show the effectiveness of LEO in solving real-world optimization applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaheuristic algorithms are widely used in solving optimization problems. In this paper, a new metaheuristic algorithm called Skill Optimization Algorithm (SOA) is proposed to solve optimization problems. The fundamental inspiration in designing SOA is human efforts to acquire and improve skills. Various stages of SOA are mathematically modeled in two phases, including: (i) exploration, skill acquisition from experts and (ii) exploitation, skill improvement based on practice and individual effort. The efficiency of SOA in optimization applications is analyzed through testing this algorithm on a set of twenty-three standard benchmark functions of a variety of unimodal, high-dimensional multimodal, and fixed-dimensional multimodal types. The optimization results show that SOA, by balancing exploration and exploitation, is able to provide good performance and appropriate solutions for optimization problems. In addition, the performance of SOA in optimization is compared with ten metaheuristic algorithms to evaluate the quality of the results obtained by the proposed approach. Analysis and comparison of the obtained simulation results show that the proposed SOA has a superior performance over the considered algorithms and achievesmuch more competitive results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep neural networks (DNNs) are very dependent on their parameterization and require experts to determine which method to implement and modify the hyper-parameters value. This study proposes an automated-tuned hyperparameter for DNN using a metaheuristic optimization algorithm, arithmetic optimization algorithm (AOA). AOA makes use of the distribution properties of mathematics' primary arithmetic operators, including multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. AOA is mathematically modeled and implemented to optimize processes across a broad range of search spaces. The performance of AOA is evaluated against 29 benchmark functions, and several real-world engineering design problems are to demonstrate AOA's applicability. The hyper-parameter tuning framework consists of a set of Lorenz chaotic system datasets, hybrid DNN architecture, and AOA that works automatically. As a result, AOA produced the highest accuracy in the test dataset with a combination of optimized hyper-parameters for DNN architecture. The boxplot analysis also produced the ten AOA particles that are the most accurately chosen. Hence, AOA with ten particles had the smallest size of boxplot for all hyper-parameters, which concluded the best solution. In particular, the result for the proposed system is outperformed compared to the architecture tested with particle swarm optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, gender detection has been an important problem in speech analysis, with many different applications. Different features of sound data such as pitch, median, and frequency are used for gender detection. In this study, a feature selection method based on metaheuristic optimization algorithms is proposed for gender detection from voice data. In the proposed method, the feature set representing the voice data in the most appropriate way is selected with optimization algorithms, and gender detection has been implemented with artificial intelligence algorithms using the obtained features. Nature-inspired metaheuristic optimization algorithms, which are capable of solving complex problems, are used to select features from voice data. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA), and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) have been modeled for the first time for feature selection from voice data. A publicly accessible data set has been used to measure the efficiency of metaheuristic optimization algorithms. The performances of PSO, ACO, SSA, and WOA for feature selection have been compared in terms of three different criteria: fitness function value, accuracy value, and the number of selected features. After feature selection with metaheuristic optimization algorithms, Naive Bayes and Decision Tree algorithms have been applied to the new data sets obtained and the original data set. As a result of the analysis, it was observed that this method which uses metaheuristic optimization algorithms for feature selection increased the success rate in the results obtained with Naive Bayes and Decision Tree algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer has become a common malignancy in women. However, early detection and identification of this disease can save many lives. As computer-aided detection helps radiologists in detecting abnormalities efficiently, researchers across the world are striving to develop reliable models to deal with. One of the common approaches to identifying breast cancer is through breast mammograms. However, the identification of malignant breasts from mass lesions is a challenging research problem. In the current work, we propose a method for the classification of breast mass using mammograms which consists of two main stages. At first, we extract deep features from the input mammograms using the well-known VGG16 model while incorporating an attention mechanism into this model. Next, we apply a meta-heuristic called Social Ski-Driver (SSD) algorithm embedded with Adaptive Beta Hill Climbing based local search to obtain an optimal features subset. The optimal features subset is fed to the K-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifier for the classification. The proposed model is demonstrated to be very useful for identifying and differentiating malignant and healthy breasts successfully. For experimentation, we evaluate our model on the digital database for screening mammography (DDSM) database and achieve 96.07% accuracy using only 25% of features extracted by the attention-aided VGG16 model. The Python code of our research work is publicly available at: https://github.com/Ppayel/BreastLocalSearchSSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the volume of data generated by information systems continues to increase, machine learning (ML) techniques have become essential for the extraction of meaningful insights. However, the sheer volume of data often causes these techniques to become sluggish. To overcome this, feature selection is a vital step in the pre-processing of data. In this paper, we introduce a novel K-nearest neighborhood (KNN)-based wrapper system for feature selection that leverages the iterative improvement ability of the weighted superposition attraction (WSA). We evaluate the performance of WSA against seven well-known metaheuristic algorithms, i.e., differential evolution (DE), genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), flower pollination algorithm (FPA), symbiotic organisms search (SOS), marine predators' algorithm (MPA) and manta ray foraging optimization (MRFO). Our extensive numerical experiments demonstrate that WSA is highly effective for feature selection, achieving a decrease of up to 99% in the number of features for large datasets without sacrificing classification accuracy. In fact, WSA-KNN outperforms traditional ML methods by about 18% and ensemble ML algorithms by 9%. Moreover, WSA-KNN achieves comparable or slightly better solutions when compared with neural networks hybridized with metaheuristics. These findings highlight the importance and potential of WSA for feature selection in modern-day data processing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaheuristic algorithms are one of themost widely used stochastic approaches in solving optimization problems. In this paper, a new metaheuristic algorithm entitled Billiards Optimization Algorithm (BOA) is proposed and designed to be used in optimization applications. The fundamental inspiration in BOA design is the behavior of the players and the rules of the billiards game. Various steps of BOA are described and then its mathematical model is thoroughly explained. The efficiency of BOA in dealing with optimization problems is evaluated through optimizing twenty-three standard benchmark functions of different types including unimodal, high-dimensional multimodal, and fixed-dimensional multimodal functions. In order to analyze the quality of the results obtained by BOA, the performance of the proposed approach is compared with ten well-known algorithms. The simulation results show that BOA, with its high exploration and exploitation abilities, achieves an impressive performance in providing solutions to objective functions and is superior and far more competitive compared to the ten competitor algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of AC filters must meet the criteria of harmonic distortion mitigation and reactive power support in various operating modes. The stringent reactive power-sharing requirements currently lead to sophisticated filter schemes with high component ratings. In this regard, triple-tuned filters (TTFs) have good potential in harmonic mitigation of a broad range of harmonics. In the literature, the TTF design has been presented using a parametric method, assuming that the TTF is equivalent to a three-arm single-tuned filter (TASTF). However, no direct methods of designing it or finding its optimal parameters have been provided. This paper presents novel mathematical designs of TTFs. Three different design methods are considered—the direct triple-tuned filter (DTTF) design method, as a TASTF, and a method based on the equivalence between the two design methods called the equivalence hypothesis method to design the triple-tuned filter (EHF). The parameters of the three proposed design methods are optimized based on the minimization of a proposed multi-objective function using a recent metaheuristic algorithm called artificial rabbits optimization (ARO) to mitigate harmonics, improve power quality, and minimize power losses in an exemplary system presented in IEEE STD-519. Further, the system's performance has been compared to the system optimized by the ant lion optimizer (ALO) and whale optimization algorithm (WOA) to validate the effectiveness of the proposed design. Simulation results emphasized harmonics mitigation in the system, the system losses reduction, and power quality improvement with lower reactive power filter ratings than conventional single and double-tuned filters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are a fundamental component of intelligent transportation systems in smart cities. With the support of open and real-time data, these networks of inter-connected vehicles constitute an 'Internet of vehicles' with the potential to significantly enhance citizens' mobility and last-mile delivery in urban, peri-urban, and metropolitan areas. However, the proper coordination and logistics of VANETs raise a number of optimization challenges that need to be solved. After reviewing the state of the art on the concepts of VANET optimization and open data in smart cities, this paper discusses some of the most relevant optimization challenges in this area. Since most of the optimization problems are related to the need for real-time solutions or to the consideration of uncertainty and dynamic environments, the paper also discusses how some VANET challenges can be addressed with the use of agile optimization algorithms and the combination of metaheuristics with simulation and machine learning methods. The paper also offers a numerical analysis that measures the impact of using these optimization techniques in some related problems. Our numerical analysis, based on real data from Open Data Barcelona, demonstrates that the constructive heuristic outperforms the random scenario in the CDP combined with vehicular networks, resulting in maximizing the minimum distance between facilities while meeting capacity requirements with the fewest facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates the design and implementation of a stable wideband first‐order microwave integrator. The proposed design is attained by the cascading of eight equal‐length serial transmission lines. The meta‐heuristic optimization algorithms namely real‐coded genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, and sine–cosine algorithm are applied to attain the characteristic impedance of serial lines. Further, the proposed integrator, fabricated on RT/Duroid 5880 substrate with permittivity (ϵr ${\epsilon }_{r}$) = 2.2 and height (t) $(t)$ = 0.762 mm. The results are measured using a vector network analyzer, show its conformity with the simulated and ideal result within the frequency range of 4–18 GHz in MATLAB environment, and confirm its eligibility for Ku‐band application, which is compact in size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimization is used in almost every aspect of our lives today and makes our lives easier. Optimization is generally studied as classical and heuristic optimization techniques. Classical optimization methods are not effective in real-world engineering problems. These methods, by their nature, require a mathematical model. Metaheuristic optimization methods have started to be used frequently today in the solution of these problems when a mathematical model cannot be created or a solution cannot be produced in an effective time even if it is created. These methods, by their nature, cannot produce effective results in all engineering problems. Therefore, new metaheuristic optimization methods are constantly being researched. In this study, quality test functions have been used to compare the performances of five algorithms that have been developed in recent years and produce effective results. The results obtained from these functions are shared in this study. It has been observed that the Artificial Hummingbird Optimization Algorithm (AHA) gives better results than other metaheuristic algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for novel and innovative control techniques has increased due to complexity in the process control industries which expect better control with enhanced performance. The optimization of proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller parameters plays a significant role in the petrochemical and biochemical industries. In all these industries, controlling of continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) is highly deployed whose dynamic characteristics are non‐linear and difficult to control as there is a risk of its temperature deviating from the set point. To have an efficient control, a metaheuristic optimization technique‐based PID, fractional‐order PID controller (FOPID) control evolved using the behaviour of a swarm of birds named coot bird optimization algorithm (CBOA) has been highlighted in this paper. The tuning has been done using the weighted combination of fitness functions, specifically the overshoot (Os) and the settling time (Ts). The simulated results demonstrate the improvement of the time domain response parameters of CBOA tuned PID, FOPID controllers providing an optimum performance when compared to other optimization algorithms and a conventional controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fully pairing all elements of a set while attempting to maximize the total benefit is a combinatorically difficult problem. Such pairing problems naturally appear in various situations in science, technology, economics, and other fields. In our previous study, we proposed an efficient method to infer the underlying compatibilities among the entities, under the constraint that only the total compatibility is observable. Furthermore, by transforming the pairing problem into a traveling salesman problem with a multi-layer architecture, a pairing optimization algorithm was successfully demonstrated to derive a high-total-compatibility pairing. However, there is substantial room for further performance enhancement by further exploiting the underlying mathematical properties. In this study, we prove the existence of algebraic structures in the pairing problem. We transform the initially estimated compatibility information into an equivalent form where the variance of the individual compatibilities is minimized. We then demonstrate that the total compatibility obtained when using the heuristic pairing algorithm on the transformed problem is significantly higher compared to the previous method. With this improved perspective on the pairing problem using fundamental mathematical properties, we can contribute to practical applications such as wireless communications beyond 5G, where efficient pairing is of critical importance. As the pairing problem is a special case of the maximum weighted matching problem, our findings may also have implications for other algorithms on fully connected graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arithmetic optimization algorithm (AOA) is a recent population-based metaheuristic widely used for solving optimization problems. However, the emerging large-scale optimization problems pose a great challenge for AOA due to its prohibitive computational cost to traverse the huge solution space effectively. This article proposes a parallel Spark-AOA using Scala on Apache Spark computing platform. Spark-AOA leverages the intrinsic parallel nature of the population-based AOA and the native iterative in-memory computation support of Spark through resilient distributed datasets (RDD) to accelerate the optimization process. Spark-AOA divides the solutions population into several subpopulations that are distributed into multiple RDD partitions and manipulated concurrently. Simulation experiments on different benchmark functions with up to 1,000-dimension and three engineering design problems demonstrate that Spark-AOA outperforms considerably standard AOA and Spark-based implementations of two recent metaheuristics both in terms of run-time and solution quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel bio-inspired optimization algorithm called Coronavirus Optimization Algorithm (COVIDOA). COVIDOA is an evolutionary search strategy that mimics the mechanism of coronavirus when hijacking human cells. COVIDOA is inspired by the frameshifting technique used by the coronavirus for replication. The proposed algorithm is tested using 20 standard benchmark optimization functions with different parameter values. Besides, we utilized five IEEE Congress of Evolutionary Computation (CEC) benchmark test functions (CECC06, 2019 Competition) and five CEC 2011 real-world problems to prove the proposed algorithm's efficiency. The proposed algorithm is compared to eight of the most popular and recent metaheuristic algorithms from the state-of-the-art in terms of best cost, average cost (AVG), corresponding standard deviation (STD), and convergence speed. The results demonstrate that COVIDOA is superior to most existing metaheuristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates a novel simple metaheuristic algorithm, the cone search (CS). This name comes from the distinct strategy of CS in searching the suboptimal solution. In the early iteration, its local search space is wide to facilitate exploration. The local search space is reduced linearly during the iteration so that the exploration changes to exploitation gradually. As a swarm intelligence, CS contains several autonomous agents and a collective intelligence called memory. This memory consists of several best solutions. In this work, CS is challenged to find the global optimal of 23 benchmark functions. In the simulation, CS is compared with four metaheuristic algorithms: particle swarm optimization (PSO), marine-predators algorithm (MPA), Komodo mlipir algorithm (KMA), and pelican optimization algorithm (POA). The result shows that CS performs well in solving these 23 functions. Moreover, it can find the global optimal of six fixeddimension multimodal functions: Branin, six hump camel, Hartman 6, Shekel 5, Shekel 7, and Goldstein price. CS beats PSO, MPA, KMA, and POA in solving 23, 22, 21, 22 functions respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the emergence of the multicore architecture and the increase of chip operating frequency, power optimization has become a key step of circuit logic synthesis. Aiming at the XNOR/OR circuits, with the goal of minimizing power, construct the optimal polarity fixed-polarity Reed–Muller (FPRM) circuits power optimization scheme. However, the power optimization for FPRM circuits is a multipeak combinatorial optimization problem, we first propose a metaheuristic optimization algorithm (MOA), which includes the global exploration optimizer, local deep exploitation optimizer, and initial population and uses the proposed differential evolution optimization, fierce wolf siege algorithm-based tabu search, and improved skew tent map to make the population evolve. Based on the proposed Huffman tree construction algorithm and MOA, we propose an efficient power optimization approach (EPOA) to find the minimum power FPRM circuit. Experimental results on the benchmark circuits confirm the effectiveness of EPOA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimization problems are becoming more complicated, requiring new and efficient optimization techniques to solve them. Many bio-inspired meta-heuristic algorithms have emerged in the last decade to solve these complex problems as most of these algorithms may be trapped into local optima and could not effectively solve all types of optimization problems. Hence, researchers are still trying to develop new and better optimization algorithms. This paper introduces a novel biologically-based optimization algorithm called circulatory system-based optimization (CSBO). CSBO is modeled based on the function of the body's blood vessels with two distinctive circuits, i.e. pulmonary and systemic circuits. The proposed CSBO algorithm is tested on a wide variety of complex functions of the real world and validated with the standard meta-heuristic algorithms. The results indicate that the CSBO algorithm successfully achieves the optimal solutions and avoids local optima. Note that the source code of the CSBO algorithm is publicly available at . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the crucial challenges of solving many-objective optimization problems is uniformly well covering of the Pareto-front (PF). However, many the state-of-the-art optimization algorithms are capable of approximating the shape of many-objective PF by generating a limited number of non-dominated solutions. The exponential increase of the population size is an inefficient strategy that increases the computational complexity of the algorithm dramatically—especially when solving many-objective problems. In this paper, we introduce a machine learning-based framework to cover sparse PF surface which is initially generated by many-objective optimization algorithms; either by classical or meta-heuristic methods. The proposed method, called many-objective reverse mapping (MORM), is based on constructing a learning model on the initial PF set as the training data to reversely map the objective values to corresponding decision variables. Using the trained model, a set of candidate solutions can be generated by a variety of inexpensive generative techniques such as Opposition-based Learning and Latin Hypercube Sampling in both objective and decision spaces. Iteratively generated non-dominated candidate solutions cover the initial PF efficiently with no further need to utilize any optimization algorithm. We validate the proposed framework using a set of well-known many-objective optimization benchmarks and two well-known real-world problems. The coverage of PF is illustrated and numerically compared with the state-of-the-art many-objective algorithms. The statistical tests conducted on comparison measures such as HV, IGD, and the contribution ratio on the built PF reveal that the proposed collaborative framework surpasses the competitors on most of the problems. In addition, MORM covers the PF effectively compared to other methods even with the aid of large population size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a large number of meta-heuristic algorithms have been proposed to efficiently solve various complex optimization problems in reality. Most of these algorithms are based on the intelligent behavior of swarms in the natural world. In this article, we take Hooke's law of elasticity and Newton's second law of motion as the information interaction tools and innovatively propose a new meta-heuristic algorithm that is based on the laws of physics, called the elastic deformation optimization algorithm (EDOA). A new parameter adaptive adjustment mechanism is designed in the EDOA to better explore and exploit the search space. At the same time, we compare the proposed EDOA with six well-known search algorithms and conduct simulation experiments on 23 classical benchmark functions and IEEE CEC 2020 benchmark functions respectively. We have further analyzed the experimental results, used two nonparametric statistical test methods, and drawn iterative curves of the algorithms to prove the powerful comprehensive performance of the proposed EDOA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaheuristic algorithms (MAs) are used to find the answers to NP-Hard problems. NP-Hard problems basically refer to a set of optimization problems that cannot be solved in a polynomial at a time. MAs try to find the optimal or near-definitive answer in the shortest possible time to solve such problems and a set of optimization algorithms with different origins. These algorithms may be inspired by the natural sciences, physics, mathematics, and political science. However, a particular Metaheuristic algorithm may not provide the best answer to all problems. Each MA may have a better response to specific problems than other similar algorithms. Therefore, researchers will try to introduce and discover new algorithms to find optimal answers to a wide range of problems. In this paper, a new Meta-heuristic algorithm called the Water optimization algorithm (WAO) is presented. WAO is inspired by the chemical and physical properties of water molecules. The main idea of the proposed algorithm is to link water molecules together to find the optimal points. Factors such as particle motion, particle evaporation, and particle bonding have created a mechanism based on swarm intelligence and physical intelligence that inspired this algorithm to solve persistent problems. In this algorithm, answers are defined as a water molecule, a set of them is defined as a local answer. Water bonds provide the right move towards the optimal response. In evaluating the performance of the proposed algorithm, the proposed method is applied to some standard functions and some practical problems. The results obtained from the experiments show that the proposed algorithm has provided appropriate and acceptable answers in terms of execution time and accuracy compared to some similar algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacitated arc routing problem (CARP) is a challenging combinatorial optimization problem abstracted from many real-world applications, such as waste collection, road gritting, and mail delivery. However, few studies considered dynamic changes during the vehicles’ service, which can cause the original schedule infeasible or obsolete. The few existing studies are limited by the dynamic scenarios considered, and by overly complicated algorithms that are unable to benefit from the wealth of contributions provided by the existing CARP literature. In this article, we first provide a mathematical formulation of dynamic CARP (DCARP) and design a simulation system that is able to consider dynamic events while a routing solution is already partially executed. We then propose a novel framework which can benefit from the existing static CARP optimization algorithms so that they could be used to handle DCARP instances. The framework is very flexible. In response to a dynamic event, it can use either a simple restart strategy or a sequence transfer strategy that benefits from the past optimization experience. Empirical studies have been conducted on a wide range of DCARP instances to evaluate our proposed framework. The results show that the proposed framework significantly improves over state-of-the-art dynamic optimization algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selecting relevant feature subsets is vital in machine learning, and multiclass feature selection is harder to perform since most classifications are binary. The feature selection problem aims at reducing the feature set dimension while maintaining the performance model accuracy. Datasets can be classified using various methods. Nevertheless, metaheuristic algorithms attract substantial attention to solving different problems in optimization. For this reason, this paper presents a systematic survey of literature for solving multiclass feature selection problems utilizing metaheuristic algorithms that can assist classifiers selects optima or near optima features faster and more accurately. Metaheuristic algorithms have also been presented in four primary behavior-based categories, i.e., evolutionary-based, swarm-intelligence-based, physics-based, and human-based, even though some literature works presented more categorization. Further, lists of metaheuristic algorithms were introduced in the categories mentioned. In finding the solution to issues related to multiclass feature selection, only articles on metaheuristic algorithms used for multiclass feature selection problems from the year 2000 to 2022 were reviewed about their different categories and detailed descriptions. We considered some application areas for some of the metaheuristic algorithms applied for multiclass feature selection with their variations. Popular multiclass classifiers for feature selection were also examined. Moreover, we also presented the challenges of metaheuristic algorithms for feature selection, and we identified gaps for further research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a new nature-inspired metaheuristic that mimics the behaviour of the prairie dogs in their natural habitat called the prairie dog optimization (PDO). The proposed algorithm uses four prairie dog activities to achieve the two common optimization phases, exploration and exploitation. The prairie dogs' foraging and burrow build activities are used to provide exploratory behaviour for PDO. The prairie dogs build their burrows around an abundant food source. As the food source gets depleted, they search for a new food source and build new burrows around it, exploring the whole colony or problem space to discover new food sources or solutions. The specific response of the prairie dogs to two unique communication or alert sound is used to accomplish exploitation. The prairie dogs have signals or sounds for different scenarios ranging from predator threats to food availability. Their communication skills play a significant role in satisfying the prairie dogs' nutritional needs and anti-predation abilities. These two specific behaviours result in the prairie dogs converging to a specific location or a promising location in the case of PDO implementation, where further search (exploitation) is carried out to find better or near-optimal solutions. The performance of PDO in carrying out optimization is tested on a set of twenty-two classical benchmark functions and ten CEC 2020 test functions. The experimental results demonstrate that PDO benefits from a good balance of exploration and exploitation. Compared with the results of other well-known population-based metaheuristic algorithms available in the literature, the PDO shows stronger performance and higher capabilities than the other algorithms. Furthermore, twelve benchmark engineering design problems are used to test the performance of PDO, and the results indicate that the proposed PDO is effective in estimating optimal solutions for real-world optimization problems with unknown global optima. The PDO algorithm source codes is publicly available at https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/110980-prairie-dog-optimization-algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the increases in electricity demand, environmental awareness, and power reliability requirements, solutions of single-objective optimal power flow (OPF) and multi-objective OPF (MOOPF) (two or three objectives) problems are inadequate for modern power system management and operation. Solutions to the many-objective OPF (more than three objectives) problems are necessary to meet modern power-system requirements, and an efficient optimization algorithm is needed to solve the problems. This paper presents a many-objective marine predators algorithm (MaMPA) for solving single-objective OPF (SOOPF), multi-objective OPF (MOOPF), and many-objective OPF (MaOPF) problems as this algorithm has been widely used to solve other different problems with many successes, except for MaOPF problems. The marine predators algorithm (MPA) itself cannot solve multi- or many-objective optimization problems, so the non-dominated sorting, crowding mechanism, and leader mechanism are applied to the MPA in this work. The considered objective functions include cost, emission, transmission loss, and voltage stability index (VSI), and the IEEE 30- and 118-bus systems are tested to evaluate the algorithm performance. The results of the SOOPF problem provided by MaMPA are found to be better than various algorithms in the literature where the provided cost of MaMPA is more than that of the compared algorithms for more than 1000 USD/h in the IEEE 118-bus system. The statistical results of MaMPA are investigated and express very high consistency with a very low standard deviation. The Pareto fronts and best-compromised solutions generated by MaMPA for MOOPF and MaOPF problems are compared with various algorithms based on the hypervolume indicator and show superiority over the compared algorithms, especially in the large system. The best-compromised solution of MaMPA for the MaOPF problem is found to be greater than the compared algorithms around 4.30 to 85.23% for the considered objectives in the IEEE 118-bus system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Harris hawk optimization (HHO) is an impressive optimization algorithm that makes use of unique mathematical approaches. This study proposes an island parallel HHO (IP-HHO) version of the algorithm for optimizing continuous multi-dimensional problems for the first time in the literature. To evaluate the performance of the IP-HHO, thirteen unimodal and multimodal benchmark problems with different dimensions (30, 100, 500, and 1000) are evaluated. The implementation of this novel algorithm took into account the investigation, exploitation, and avoidance of local optima issues effectively. Parallel computation provides a multi-swarm environment for thousands of hawks simultaneously. On all issue cases, we were able to enhance the performance of the sequential version of the HHO algorithm. As the number of processors increases, the suggested IP-HHO method enhances its performance while retaining scalability and improving its computation speed. The IP-HHO method outperforms the other state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms on average as the size of the dimensions grows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to obtain optimal models of an unstable transport system, which is a nonlinear process represented by the two-wheeled unstable transport system. An optimization problem is defined in order to ideally minimize and practically reduce the differences of the outputs of the real-time laboratory equipment with respect to the outputs of the nonlinear model. The parameters of the nonlinear models are optimally tuned using a recent metaheuristic optimization algorithm, namely the Grey Wolf Optimizer, which solves three optimization problems. A comparison of the responses of the real-time laboratory equipment and the derived optimal nonlinear models is carried out in various simulation scenarios, which are discussed and analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most of the scientific research feature selection is a challenge for researcher. Selecting all available features is not an option as it usually complicates the research and leads to performance drop when dealing with large datasets. On the other hand, ignoring some features can compromise the data accuracy. Here the rough set theory presents a good technique to identify the redundant features which can be dismissed without losing any valuable information, however, exploring all possible combinations of features will end with NP-hard problem. In this research we propose adopting a heuristic algorithm to solve this problem, Polar Bear Optimization PBO is a metaheuristic algorithm provides an effective technique for solving such kind of optimization problems. Among other heuristic algorithms it proposes a dynamic mechanism for birth and death which allows keep investing in promising solutions and keep dismissing hopeless ones. To evaluate its efficiency, we applied our proposed model on several datasets and measured the quality of the obtained minimal feature set to prove that redundant data was removed without data loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaheuristic algorithm is a generalization of heuristic algorithm that can be applied to almost all optimization problems. For optimization problems, metaheuristic algorithm is one of the methods to find its optimal solution or approximate solution under limited conditions. Most of the existing metaheuristic algorithms are designed for serial systems. Meanwhile, existing algorithms still have a lot of room for improvement in convergence speed, robustness, and performance. To address these issues, this paper proposes an easily parallelizable metaheuristic optimization algorithm called team competition and cooperation optimization (TCCO) inspired by the process of human team cooperation and competition. The proposed algorithm attempts to mathematically model human team cooperation and competition to promote the optimization process and find an approximate solution as close as possible to the optimal solution under limited conditions. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, this paper compares the solution accuracy and convergence speed of the TCCO algorithm with the Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA), Seagull Optimization Algorithm (SOA), Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) and Sparrow Search Algorithm (SSA). Experiment results of 30 test functions commonly used in the optimization field indicate that, compared with these current advanced metaheuristic algorithms, TCCO has strong competitiveness in both solution accuracy and convergence speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel physical-inspired metaheuristic algorithm called "Light Spectrum Optimizer (LSO)" for continuous optimization problems. The inspiration for the proposed algorithm is the light dispersions with different angles while passing through rain droplets, causing the meteorological phenomenon of the colorful rainbow spectrum. In order to validate the proposed algorithm, three different experiments are conducted. First, LSO is tested on solving CEC 2005, and the obtained results are compared with a wide range of well-regarded metaheuristics. In the second experiment, LSO is used for solving four CEC competitions in single objective optimization benchmarks (CEC2014, CEC2017, CEC2020, and CEC2022), and its results are compared with eleven well-established and recently-published optimizers, named grey wolf optimizer (GWO), whale optimization algorithm (WOA), and salp swarm algorithm (SSA), evolutionary algorithms like differential evolution (DE), and recently-published optimizers including gradient-based optimizer (GBO), artificial gorilla troops optimizer (GTO), Runge–Kutta method (RUN) beyond the metaphor, African vultures optimization algorithm (AVOA), equilibrium optimizer (EO), grey wolf optimizer (GWO), Reptile Search Algorithm (RSA), and slime mold algorithm (SMA). In addition, several engineering design problems are solved, and the results are compared with many algorithms from the literature. The experimental results with the statistical analysis demonstrate the merits and highly superior performance of the proposed LSO algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current variety of the Internet Protocol is IPv6 for addressing the networking devices as per the mechanisms proposed by past researchers to minimize the delay and improve the efficiency. It is additionally recognized as a classless addressing scheme that locates computing machines throughout the web so they can be located. Among the mechanisms, the Group Intelligence (GI) algorithms that consists of Evolutionary and Group based Optimization techniques have gained attention of the researchers to contribute an effective optimized solution towards solving an optimization problem. Thus, the aim of this paper is to study the implementation, features and effectiveness of different GI based metaheuristic machine learning optimization algorithms, so as to contribute in future towards designing and upgrade to a new IPv6 addressing scheme by blending the benefits of the metaheuristic algorithms to find good or near --optimal solutions at a reasonable computation cost in IPv6 network to enhance the execution result of addressing scheme on real time data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lemur Optimizer (LO) is a novel nature-inspired algorithm we propose in this paper. This algorithm's primary inspirations are based on two pillars of lemur behavior: leap up and dance hub. These two principles are mathematically modeled in the optimization context to handle local search, exploitation, and exploration search concepts. The LO is first benchmarked on twenty-three standard optimization functions. Additionally, the LO is used to solve three real-world problems to evaluate its performance and effectiveness. In this direction, LO is compared to six well-known algorithms: Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA), Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), Sine Cosine Algorithm (SCA), Bat Algorithm (BA), Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA), and JAYA algorithm. The findings show that the proposed algorithm outperforms these algorithms in fourteen standard optimization functions and proves the LO's robust performance in managing its exploration and exploitation capabilities, which significantly leads LO towards the global optimum. The real-world experimental findings demonstrate how LO may tackle such challenges competitively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scalability of optimization algorithms is a major challenge in coping with the ever-growing size of optimization problems in a wide range of application areas from high-dimensional machine learning to complex large-scale engineering problems. The field of large-scale global optimization is concerned with improving the scalability of global optimization algorithms, particularly, population-based metaheuristics. Such metaheuristics have been successfully applied to continuous, discrete, or combinatorial problems ranging from several thousand dimensions to billions of decision variables. In this two-part survey, we review recent studies in the field of large-scale black-box global optimization to help researchers and practitioners gain a bird’s-eye view of the field, learn about its major trends, and the state-of-the-art algorithms. Part I of the series covers two major algorithmic approaches to large-scale global optimization: 1) problem decomposition and 2) memetic algorithms. Part II of the series covers a range of other algorithmic approaches to large-scale global optimization, describes a wide range of problem areas, and finally, touches upon the pitfalls and challenges of current research and identifies several potential areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a hybrid metaheuristic optimization algorithm that combines particle filter (PF) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms. The new PF–PSO algorithm consists of two steps: the first generates randomly the particle population;and the second zooms the search domain. An application of this algorithm to the optimal tuning of proportional-integral-fuzzy controllers for the position control of a family of integral-type servo systems is then presented as a second contribution. The reduction in PF–PSO algorithm's cost function allows for reduced energy consumption of the fuzzy control system. A comparison with other metaheuristic algorithms on canonical test functions and experimental results are presented at the end of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Porous microstructure dictates the overall performance of a reactor. • Ractor microstructure is optimized by pore network modeling and metaheuristic optimization. • A multi-objective optimization led to a higher conversion rate and a lower hydraulic requirement. • The idea of background grid is presented for a versatile topological optimization of the pore network. Reactive transport within porous reactors is crucial to many diverse applications, and the efficacy of these reactors hinges on their microstructure. Mathematical modeling and optimization play a pivotal role in the exploration of efficient designs, enabling the generation of structures that may not be achievable through random realizations of packings. In this study, we propose a framework for high-resolution topological optimization of porous flow-through reactors based on pore-scale simulations using a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II. A pore network model for an advection–diffusion-reaction system is developed to simulate reactor performance. This model is integrated with a mathematical optimization algorithm, incorporating a background grid and Delaunay tessellation. The optimization framework generates enhanced porous structures, simultaneously maximizing conversion rates while minimizing pumping costs. Striking a balance between permeability and reactive surface area, the final designs yield a set of Pareto optimal solutions, encompassing diverse non-dominated designs with varying reaction rates and hydraulic requirements. The results demonstrate that optimal pore configurations lead to a 280% increase in conversion rates and a 6% reduction in pumping costs at one end, while on the opposite end of the Pareto front, a 15.2% increase in reaction rates and an 11.3% reduction in pumping costs are observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing need for profit maximization and cost minimization has made the optimization field very attractive to both researchers and practitioners. In fact, many authors were interested in this field and they have developed a large number of optimization algorithms to solve either academic or real-life problems. Among such algorithms, we cite a well-known metaheuristic called the genetic algorithm. This optimizer tool, as any algorithm, suffers from some drawbacks; like the problem of premature convergence. In this paper, we propose a new selection strategy hoping to avoid such a problem. The proposed selection operator is based on the principle of the k-means clustering method for the purpose of guiding the genetic algorithm to explore different regions of the search space. We have elaborated a genetic algorithm based on this new selection mechanism. We have then tested our algorithm on various data instances of the 0/1 multidimensional knapsack problem. The obtained results are encouraging when compared with those reached by other versions of genetic algorithms and those reached by an adapted version of the particle swarm optimization algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]