Nature-Inspired Optimization Algorithms in Engineering: Overview and Applications

Abstract

Nature-inspired computation has become popular in engineering applications and nature-inspired algorithms tend to be simple and flexible and yet sufficiently efficient to deal with highly nonlinear optimization problems. In this chapter, we first review the brief history of nature-inspired optimization algorithms, followed by the introduction of a few recent algorithms based on swarm intelligence. Then, we analyze the key characteristics of optimization algorithms and discuss the choice of algorithms. Finally, some case studies in engineering are briefly presented.