A survey of dynamic parameter setting methods for nature-inspired swarm intelligence algorithms

A Multi-Strategy Improved Northern Goshawk Optimization Algorithm for Optimizing Engineering Problems

Northern Goshawk Optimization (NGO) is an efficient optimization algorithm, but it has the drawbacks of easily falling into local optima and slow convergence. Aiming at these drawbacks, an improved NGO algorithm named the Multi-Strategy Improved Northern Goshawk Optimization (MSINGO) algorithm was proposed by adding the cubic mapping strategy, a novel weighted stochastic difference mutation strategy, and weighted sine and cosine optimization strategy to the original NGO. To verify the performance of MSINGO, a set of comparative experiments were performed with five highly cited and six recently proposed metaheuristic algorithms on the CEC2017 test functions. Comparative experimental results show that in the vast majority of cases, MSINGO's exploitation ability, exploration ability, local optimal avoidance ability, and scalability are superior to those of competitive algorithms. Finally, six real world engineering problems demonstrated the merits and potential of MSINGO.

Multilevel Colonoscopy Histopathology Image Segmentation Using Particle Swarm Optimization Techniques

Histopathology image segmentation is a challenging task in medical image processing. This work aims to segment lesion regions from colonoscopy histopathology images. Initially, the images are preprocessed and then segmented using the multilevel image thresholding technique. Multilevel thresholding is considered an optimization problem. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) and its variants, darwinian particle swarm optimization (DPSO), and fractional order darwinian particle swarm optimization (FODPSO) are used to solve the optimization problem and they generate the threshold values. The threshold values obtained are used to segment the lesion regions from the images of the colonoscopy tissue data set. Segmented images containing the lesion regions are then postprocessed to remove unnecessary regions. Experimental results reveal that the FODPSO algorithm with Otsu's discriminant criterion as the objective function achieves the best accuracy, Dice and Jaccard values of 0.89, 0.68 and 0.52, respectively, for the colonoscopy data set. The FODPSO algorithm also outperforms other optimization methods such as artificial bee colony and the firefly algorithms in terms of the accuracy, Dice and Jaccard values.

Parameter setting of meta-heuristic algorithms: a new hybrid method based on DEA and RSM

The parameter setting of meta-heuristic algorithms is one of the most effective issues in the performance of meta-heuristic algorithms and is usually done experimentally which is very time-consuming. In this research, a new hybrid method for selecting the optimal parameters of meta-heuristic algorithms is presented. The proposed method is a combination of data envelopment analysis method and response surface methodology, called DSM. In addition to optimizing parameters, it also simultaneously maximizes efficiency. In this research, the hybrid DSM method has been used to set the parameters of the cuckoo optimization algorithm to optimize the standard and experimental functions of Ackley and Rastrigin. In addition to standard functions, in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed method in real problems, the parameter of reverse logistics problem for COVID-19 waste management has been adjusted using the DSM method, and the results show better performance of the DSM method in terms of solution time, number of iterations, efficiency, and accuracy of the objective function compared to other.

Balancing Collective Exploration and Exploitation in Multi-Agent and Multi-Robot Systems: A Review

Multi-agent systems and multi-robot systems have been recognized as unique solutions to complex dynamic tasks distributed in space. Their effectiveness in accomplishing these tasks rests upon the design of cooperative control strategies, which is acknowledged to be challenging and nontrivial. In particular, the effectiveness of these strategies has been shown to be related to the so-called exploration-exploitation dilemma: i.e., the existence of a distinct balance between exploitative actions and exploratory ones while the system is operating. Recent results point to the need for a dynamic exploration-exploitation balance to unlock high levels of flexibility, adaptivity, and swarm intelligence. This important point is especially apparent when dealing with fast-changing environments. Problems involving dynamic environments have been dealt with by different scientific communities using theory, simulations, as well as large-scale experiments. Such results spread across a range of disciplines can hinder one's ability to understand and manage the intricacies of the exploration-exploitation challenge. In this review, we summarize and categorize the methods used to control the level of exploration and exploitation carried out by an multi-agent systems. Lastly, we discuss the critical need for suitable metrics and benchmark problems to quantitatively assess and compare the levels of exploration and exploitation, as well as the overall performance of a system with a given cooperative control algorithm.

The Hierarchic Treatment of Marine Ecological Information from Spatial Networks of Benthic Platforms

Measuring biodiversity simultaneously in different locations, at different temporal scales, and over wide spatial scales is of strategic importance for the improvement of our understanding of the functioning of marine ecosystems and for the conservation of their biodiversity. Monitoring networks of cabled observatories, along with other docked autonomous systems (e.g., Remotely Operated Vehicles [ROVs], Autonomous Underwater Vehicles [AUVs], and crawlers), are being conceived and established at a spatial scale capable of tracking energy fluxes across benthic and pelagic compartments, as well as across geographic ecotones. At the same time, optoacoustic imaging is sustaining an unprecedented expansion in marine ecological monitoring, enabling the acquisition of new biological and environmental data at an appropriate spatiotemporal scale. At this stage, one of the main problems for an effective application of these technologies is the processing, storage, and treatment of the acquired complex ecological information. Here, we provide a conceptual overview on the technological developments in the multiparametric generation, storage, and automated hierarchic treatment of biological and environmental information required to capture the spatiotemporal complexity of a marine ecosystem. In doing so, we present a pipeline of ecological data acquisition and processing in different steps and prone to automation. We also give an example of population biomass, community richness and biodiversity data computation (as indicators for ecosystem functionality) with an Internet Operated Vehicle (a mobile crawler). Finally, we discuss the software requirements for that automated data processing at the level of cyber-infrastructures with sensor calibration and control, data banking, and ingestion into large data portals.