An improved Harris Hawks Optimization algorithm for continuous and discrete optimization problems

Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) is a population-based meta-heuristic optimization algorithm that has been used for the solution of test functions and real-world problems by many researchers. However, HHO has a premature convergence problem. The main motive of the novel approach in this paper is that the performance of an MHA could be improved by simplification and by modifying the way random parameters are determined. The proposed algorithm aims to solve both continuous and discrete optimization problems. HHO is improved in three stages. First, the method to determine the random parameters is modified. Second, the strategy of HHO to produce a new solution is updated. Third, the six-step decision mechanism of HHO is shortened to four. The proposed algorithm is compared to five recently published competitor algorithms by applying to the CEC2019 test functions and a three-dimensional bin packing problem (3D-BPP) dataset with 320 samples. All the algorithms are run on the same computer and the results of 30 independent studies are saved. Minimum, average, and standard deviation values and solution times of CEC2019 functions are used as comparison parameters. For the 3D-BPP, the number of bins and the solution time are used as comparison parameters for in the Wilcoxon test. The proposed algorithm performs better than the selected competitors in terms of its %5 significance level. Moreover, the algorithm proposed in the 3D-BPP data set is the most successful algorithm with its 9745 bins. Besides, the proposed algorithm is also compared to the four most popular algorithms in the literature. The results obtained confirm the validity of the proposed algorithm.