Hybrid Taguchi-genetic algorithm for global numerical optimization

In this paper, a hybrid Taguchi-genetic algorithm (HTGA) is proposed to solve global numerical optimization problems with continuous variables. The HTGA combines the traditional genetic algorithm (TGA), which has a powerful global exploration capability, with the Taguchi method, which can exploit the optimum offspring. The Taguchi method is inserted between crossover and mutation operations of a TGA. Then, the systematic reasoning ability of the Taguchi method is incorporated in the crossover operations to select the better genes to achieve crossover, and consequently, enhance the genetic algorithm. Therefore, the HTGA can be more robust, statistically sound, and quickly convergent. The proposed HTGA is effectively applied to solve 15 benchmark problems of global optimization with 30 or 100 dimensions and very large numbers of local minima. The computational experiments show that the proposed HTGA not only can find optimal or close-to-optimal solutions but also can obtain both better and more robust results than the existing algorithm reported recently in the literature.