This book provides a literature review of techniques used to pass from continuous to combinatorial space, before discussing a detailed example with individual steps of how cuckoo search (CS) can be adapted to solve combinatorial optimization problems. It demonstrates the application of CS to three different problems and describes their source code. The content is divided into five chapters, the first of which provides a technical description, together with examples of combinatorial search spaces. The second chapter summarizes a diverse range of methods used to solve combinatorial optimization problems. In turn, the third chapter presents a description of CS, its formulation and characteristics. In the fourth chapter, the application of discrete cuckoo search (DCS) to solve three POCs (the traveling salesman problem, quadratic assignment problem and job shop scheduling problem) is explained, focusing mainly on a reinterpretation of the terminology used in CS and its source of inspiration. In closing, the fifth chapter discusses random-key cuckoo search (RKCS) using random keys to represent positions found by cuckoo search in the TSP and QAP solution space.

This book gravitates on the prominent theories and recent developments of swarm intelligence methods, and their application in both synthetic and real-world optimization problems. The special interest will be placed in those algorithmic variants where biological processes observed in nature have underpinned the core operators underlying their search mechanisms. In other words, the book centers its attention on swarm intelligence and nature-inspired methods for efficient optimization and problem solving. The content of this book unleashes a great opportunity for researchers, lecturers and practitioners interested in swarm intelligence, optimization problems and artificial intelligence.

Nature-inspired algorithms such as cuckoo search and firefly algorithm have become popular and widely used in recent years in many applications. These algorithms are flexible, efficient and easy to implement. New progress has been made in the last few years, and it is timely to summarize the latest developments of cuckoo search and firefly algorithm and their diverse applications. This book will review both theoretical studies and applications with detailed algorithm analysis, implementation and case studies so that readers can benefit most from this book. Application topics are contributed by many leading experts in the field. Topics include cuckoo search, firefly algorithm, algorithm analysis, feature selection, image processing, travelling salesman problem, neural network, GPU optimization, scheduling, queuing, multi-objective manufacturing optimization, semantic web service, shape optimization, and others. This book can serve as an ideal reference for both graduates and researchers in computer science, evolutionary computing, machine learning, computational intelligence, and optimization, as well as engineers in business intelligence, knowledge management and information technology.

This book is specially focused on the latest developments and findings on hybrid algorithms and benchmarks in optimization and their applications in sciences, engineering, and industries. The book also provides some comprehensive reviews and surveys on implementations and coding aspects of benchmarks. The book is useful for Ph.D. students and researchers with a wide experience in the subject areas and also good reference for practitioners from academia and industrial applications.

This book includes original research findings in the field of memetic algorithms for image processing applications. It gathers contributions on theory, case studies, and design methods pertaining to memetic algorithms for image processing applications ranging from defence, medical image processing, and surveillance, to computer vision, robotics, etc. The content presented here provides new directions for future research from both theoretical and practical viewpoints, and will spur further advances in the field.

We describe in this book, recent developments on fuzzy logic, neural networks and optimization algorithms, as well as their hybrid combinations, and their application in areas such as, intelligent control and robotics, pattern recognition, medical diagnosis, time series prediction and optimization of complex problems. The book contains a collection of papers focused on hybrid intelligent systems based on soft computing. There are some papers with the main theme of type-1 and type-2 fuzzy logic, which basically consists of papers that propose new concepts and algorithms based on type-1 and type-2 fuzzy logic and their applications. There also some papers that presents theory and practice of meta-heuristics in different areas of application. Another group of papers describe diverse applications of fuzzy logic, neural networks and hybrid intelligent systems in medical applications. There are also some papers that present theory and practice of neural networks in different areas of application. In addition, there are papers that present theory and practice of optimization and evolutionary algorithms in different areas of application. Finally, there are some papers describing applications of fuzzy logic, neural networks and meta-heuristics in pattern recognition problems.

The proceedings of SocProS 2013 serve as an academic bonanza for scientists and researchers working in the field of Soft Computing. This book contains theoretical as well as practical aspects of Soft Computing, an umbrella term for techniques like fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence algorithms etc. This book will be beneficial for the young as well as experienced researchers dealing with complex and intricate real world problems for which finding a solution by traditional methods is very difficult. The different areas covered in the proceedings are: Image Processing, Cryptanalysis, Supply Chain Management, Newly Proposed Nature Inspired Algorithms, Optimization, Problems related to Medical and Health Care, Networking etc.

Nature-Inspired Optimization Algorithms provides a systematic introduction to all major nature-inspired algorithms for optimization. The book's unified approach, balancing algorithm introduction, theoretical background and practical implementation, complements extensive literature with well-chosen case studies to illustrate how these algorithms work. Topics include particle swarm optimization, ant and bee algorithms, simulated annealing, cuckoo search, firefly algorithm, bat algorithm, flower algorithm, harmony search, algorithm analysis, constraint handling, hybrid methods, parameter tuning and control, as well as multi-objective optimization. This book can serve as an introductory book for graduates, doctoral students and lecturers in computer science, engineering and natural sciences. It can also serve a source of inspiration for new applications. Researchers and engineers as well as experienced experts will also find it a handy reference. - Discusses and summarizes the latest developments in nature-inspired algorithms with comprehensive, timely literature - Provides a theoretical understanding as well as practical implementation hints - Provides a step-by-step introduction to each algorithm

The introduction of nature-inspired optimization algorithms (NIOAs), over the past three decades, helped solve nonlinear, high-dimensional, and complex computational optimization problems. NIOAs have been originally developed to overcome the challenges of global optimization problems such as nonlinearity, non-convexity, non-continuity, non-differentiability, and/or multimodality which traditional numerical optimization techniques had difficulties solving. The main objective for this book is to make available a self-contained collection of modern research addressing the general bound-constrained optimization problems in many real-world applications using nature-inspired optimization algorithms. This book is suitable for a graduate class on optimization, but will also be useful for interested senior students working on their research projects.