Termite spatial correlation based particle swarm optimization for unconstrained optimization

Abstract In last few years, swarm intelligence has become the mainstay in the field of continuous optimization with many researchers developing algorithms simulating swarm behavior for the purpose of numerical optimization. This work proposes a new Termite Spatial Correlation based Particle Swarm Optimization (TSC-PSO) algorithm inspired by the movement strategy shown within Termites (Cornitermes cumulans). TSC-PSO modifies the velocity equation in the original PSO algorithm by replicating the step correlation based termite motion mechanism that exhibits individually in nature and works with decentralized control to collectively perform the overall task. Further, the algorithm incorporates the mutation strategy within it to make it suitable to avoid stagnation conditions while performing optimization in complex search spaces. For deriving its utility various benchmark functions of different geometric properties have been used. Experiments clearly demonstrate the success of the proposed algorithm in different benchmark conditions against various state-of-the-art optimization algorithms.