A hybrid algorithm to bypass some weak features in the particle swarm and firefly algorithms...with an application to the traveling salesman problem

Abstract

In this paper, the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is solved through the use of some approximation techniques where the results of the previous work showed some defects in solving the problem to obtain an optimal or close to optimal solution,so the use of hybrid algorithms to solve some results from the use of intuitive and exact algorithms. A hybrid algorithm has been proposed that combines the characteristics of the firefly algorithm (FA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to obtain an algorithm that works effectively in overcoming some of the problems resulting from the use of each algorithm separately. Then using an improvement factor to improve each solution within the resulting community and to obtain solutions with a high diversity. The efficiency of the proposed method was measured by solving some standard problems TSP, and the results showed a high convergence of the algorithm towards the known optimal solution for each problem by solving 13 standard problems.