A modified bat algorithm for the Quadratic Assignment Problem

Abstract

Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) is a discrete search space problem where one has to find the perfect feasible permutation of locations which minimizes the objective function. This paper solves the quadratic assignment problem using bat algorithm. Bat algorithm cannot be directly applied for solving QAP as it generates a solution for continuous search space problems. Therefore, we use a heuristic rule called Smallest Position Value (SPV) to enable our algorithm for finding solutions for sequencing problems. The modified algorithm completely outperforms the particle swarm optimization algorithm in all the cases considered.