Multi-Swarm Cuckoo Search Algorithm with Q-Learning Model

As a novel swarm intelligence optimization algorithm, cuckoo search (CS) has been successfully applied to solve diverse problems in the real world. Despite its efficiency and wide use, CS has some disadvantages, such as premature convergence, easy to fall into local optimum and poor balance between exploitation and exploration. In order to improve the optimization performance of the CS algorithm, a new CS extension with multi-swarms and Q-Learning namely MP-QL-CS is proposed. The step size strategy of the CS algorithm is that an individual fitness value is examined based on a one-step evolution effect of an individual instead of evaluating the step size from the multi-step evolution effect. In the MP-QL-CS algorithm, a step size control strategy is considered as action, which is used to examine the individual multi-stepping evolution effect and learn the individual optimal step size by calculating the Q function value. In this way, the MP-QL-CS algorithm can increase the adaptability of individual evolution, and a good balance between diversity and intensification can be achieved. Comparing the MP-QL-CS algorithm with various CS algorithms, variants of differential evolution (DE) and improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms, the results demonstrate that the MP-QL-CS algorithm is a competitive swarm algorithm.