Mountaineering Team-Based Optimization: A Novel Human-Based Metaheuristic Algorithm

This paper proposes a novel optimization method for solving real-world optimization problems. It is inspired by a cooperative human phenomenon named the mountaineering team-based optimization (MTBO) algorithm. Proposed for the first time, the MTBO algorithm is mathematically modeled to achieve a robust optimization algorithm based on the social behavior and human cooperation needed in considering the natural phenomena to reach a mountaintop, which represents the optimal global solution. To solve optimization problems, the proposed MTBO algorithm captures the phases of the regular and guided movement of climbers based on the leader’s experience, obstacles against reaching the peak and getting stuck in local optimality, and the coordination and social cooperation of the group to save members from natural hazards. The performance of the MTBO algorithm was tested with 30 known CEC 2014 test functions, as well as on classical engineering design problems, and the results were compared with that of well-known methods. It is shown that the MTBO algorithm is very competitive in comparison with state-of-art metaheuristic methods. The superiority of the proposed MTBO algorithm is further confirmed by statistical validation, as well as the Wilcoxon signed-rank test with advanced optimization algorithms. Compared to the other algorithms, the MTBO algorithm is more robust, easier to implement, exhibits effective optimization performance for a wide range of real-world test functions, and attains faster convergence to optimal global solutions.