Elitist Artificial Bee Colony for constrained real-parameter optimization

A novel algorithm to solve constrained real-parameter optimization problems, based on the Artificial Bee Colony algorithm is introduced in this paper. The operators used by the three types of bees (employed, onlooker and scout) are modified in such a way that more diverse and convenient solutions are generated. Furthermore, a dynamic tolerance control mechanism for equality constraints is added to the algorithm in order to facilitate the approach to the feasible region of the search space. Finally, two simple local search operators are applied to the best solution found so far. The algorithm, called Elitist-ABC, is tested on 18 test problems based on the experimental design proposed for the CEC´2010 competition on constrained real-parameter optimization. The results obtained are discussed and some conclusions are drawn.