Assignment problem solved by two metaheuristic algorithms ACO and HHO

Abstract

This study presents two population-based, nature-inspired optimization paradigms, named “Harris Hawks Optimization” HHO and “Ant Colony Optimization” ACO. The inspiration of HHO is the collaborative performance and chasing style of Harris' hawks in nature. Otherwise, ACO is inspired by studying the behaviour of real ants. Those two natural motions were scientifically represented to build optimization algorithms. The performance of HHO and ACO optimizers is checked throughout a comparison based on various test functions and an application of a problem called: Minimizing the cost of assigning personnel to a plant.