Empirical analysis of a modified Artificial Bee Colony for constrained numerical optimization

A modified Artificial Bee Colony algorithm to solve constrained numerical optimization problems is presented in this paper. Four modifications related with the selection mechanism, the scout bee operator, and the equality and boundary constraints are made to the algorithm with the aim to modify its behavior in a constrained search space. Six performance measures found in the specialized literature are employed to analyze different capabilities in the proposed algorithm such as the ability and cost to generate feasible solutions, the capacity and cost to locate the feasible global optimum solution and the competency to improve feasible solutions. Three experiments, including a comparison with state-of-the-art algorithms, are considered in the test design where twenty four well-known benchmark problems with different features are utilized. The overall results show that the proposed algorithm differs in its behavior with respect to the original Artificial Bee Colony algorithm but its performance is improved, mostly in problems with small feasible regions due to the presence of equality constraints. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.