A new modified bat algorithm for global optimization

Abstract

Bat Algorithm, is an evolutionary computation technique based on the echolocation behaviour of microbats while looking for their prey. It is used to perform global optimization. It was developed by Xin-She Yang in 2010. Since then, it has extensively been applied in various optimization problems because of its simple structure and robust performance. Continuous, discrete, or binary, many variants were proposed over the last few years, with applications to solve real-world cases in different fields. Yet, it has one major drawback: its premature convergence due to a lack in its exploration ability. In this paper, we introduce a selection-based improvement and three other modifications to the standard version of this metaheuristic in order to enhance the diversification and intensification capabilities of the algorithm. The newly proposed method has been then tested on 20 standard benchmark functions and the CEC2005 benchmark suit. Some non-parametric statistical tests were also used to compare the New Bat algorithm with other algorithms, and results indicate that the new method is very competitive and outperforms some of the state-of-the-art algorithms.