Learning automata-based butterfly optimization algorithm for engineering design problems

Butterfly Optimization Algorithm (BOA) is a novel meta-heuristic algorithm inspired by the food foraging behavior of the butterflies. The performance of BOA critically depends upon the probability parameter which decides whether the butterfly has to move towards the best butterfly of the population or perform a random search. Therefore, in order to increase the potential of the BOA, which focuses on exploration phase in the initial stages and on exploitation in the later stages of the optimization, learning automata have been embedded in BOA in which a learning automaton takes the role of configuring the behavior of a butterfly in order to create a proper balance between the process of global and local search. The introduction of learning automata accelerates the global convergence speed to the true global optimum while preserving the main feature of the basic BOA. In order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, it is evaluated on 17 benchmark test functions and 3 classical engineering design problems with different characteristics, having real-world applications. The simulation results demonstrate that the introduction of learning automata in BOA has significantly boosted the performance of BOA in terms of achievement of true global optimum and avoidance of local optima entrapment.