A Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization-Cuckoo Search Algorithm and Its Engineering Applications

This paper deals with the hybrid particle swarm optimization-Cuckoo Search (PSO-CS) algorithm which is capable of solving complicated nonlinear optimization problems. It combines the iterative scheme of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and the searching strategy of the Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithm. Details of the PSO-CS algorithm are introduced; furthermore its effectiveness is validated by several mathematical test functions. It is shown that Lévy flight significantly influences the algorithm’s convergence process. In the second part of this paper, the proposed PSO-CS algorithm is applied to two different engineering problems. The first application is nonlinear parameter identification for the motor drive servo system. As a result, a precise nonlinear Hammerstein model is obtained. The second one is reactive power optimization for power systems, where the total loss of the researched IEEE 14-bus system is minimized using PSO-CS approach. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the hybrid optimal algorithm is capable of handling nonlinear optimization problems with multiconstraints and local optimal with better performance than PSO and CS algorithms.