An Improved Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm Applied to Engineering Optimization Problems (original) (raw)

This work proposes an improved artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm, called the rank-based ABC algorithm, which includes a rank-based selection mechanism in the onlooker bees phase and a modified abandonment mechanism in the scout bees phase for solving unconstrained and constrained optimization problems. In the onlooker bees phase, the probability that an onlooker bee selects a food source is determined using a nonlinear selective pressure function, which is based on a ranking of fitness instead of proportional total fitness values. A nectar source with a superior fitness rank has a large probability of being selected by onlooker bees as new solutions and so yields a similar “best solution pool,” which often comprises the best and several good solutions, therefore, the exploitation capability for searching good solution is enhanced for the basic ABC algorithm. Moreover, the modified abandonment mechanism is used in the scout bees phase to increase the exploration capability for se...