Variable Mesh Optimization for Continuous Optimization and Multimodal Problems

Abstract

AbstractOptimization problems with continuous variables are very often in real-life scenarios. This is why several studies have focused on the use of metaheuristics to solve these problems, known as continuous optimization problems. This chapter focuses on the robust population-based metaheuristic Variable Mesh Optimization (VMO). We review the fundamental aspects of VMO for continuous optimization. Moreover, we analyze the variants of VMO that have been proposed to solve multimodal problems, i.e. those with multiple optima at several search subspaces. The chapter uses a homogeneous algorithmic framework to describe VMO and its variants with niching strategies for multimodal problems.KeywordsMetaheuristicsVariable mesh optimizationContinuous optimization problemsMultimodal optimization problemsNiching