Indicator Weighted Based Multi-Objective Approach using Self-Adaptive Neighborhood Operator

Abstract

Balancing diversity and convergence seems to be a difficult task when solving multi-objective optimization problems (MOPs). For addressing this issue, researchers’ interest has been drawn to hybrid approaches since this cooperation allows benefiting from the advantages of both approaches and gains better trade-offs overall. Considering such fact, this paper aims at introducing a hybrid approach as a synergy of a multi-directional Ant Colony Optimization algorithm with a Local Search method based on a weighted version of epsilon Indicator using a self-adaptive neighborhood operator coined as Indicator Weighted Based Local Search with Ant Colony Optimization (IWBLS/ACO) to handle the knapsack problem within the multi-objective framework. In IWBLS/ACO, initial solutions are created by the ant colony. Then, the enhancement phase is ensured by the local search procedure. The algorithm is evolving based on different configurations of the epsilon quality indicator through different weight vectors. Moreover, we propose in this work, a novel self-adaptive neighborhood operator which changes automatically and dynamically as the IWBLS algorithm runs. The proposed IWBLS/ACO was tested on widely used Multi-objective Multidimensional Knapsack Problem (MOMKP) instances and compared with powerful state-of-the-art algorithms. Experimental results highlight that the proposed approach can lead to finding a good compromise between exploration and exploitation.