Artificial plant optimisation algorithm with three-period photosynthesis

In the standard version of artificial plant optimisation algorithm (APOA), the light responsive curve of photosynthesis operator is selected as rectangular hyperbolic model. However, different light responsive curve may result in different performance, therefore, a combination of some different light responsive curves may increase the effectiveness of photosynthesis operator. In this paper, the whole evaluation process is divided into three parts, while different light responsive curve is selected in each part. With orthogonal experimental design, an optimal combination model is determined which consists of parabola model, updated rectangular hyperbolic model and straight line model, and is called three-period photosynthesis operator. To test the performance, some famous benchmarks are employed to test, and simulation results show it is effective.