In order to solve the problem that the butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA) is prone to low accuracy and slow convergence, the trend of study is to hybridize two or more algorithms to obtain a superior solution in the field of optimization problems. A novel hybrid algorithm is proposed, namely HPSOBOA, and three methods are introduced to improve the basic BOA. Therefore, the initialization of BOA using a cubic one-dimensional map is introduced, and a nonlinear parameter control strategy is also performed. In addition, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is hybridized with BOA in order to improve the basic BOA for global optimization. There are two experiments (including 26 well-known benchmark functions) that were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The comparison results of experiments show that the hybrid HPSOBOA converges quickly and has better stability in numerical optimization problems with a high dimension compared with the PSO, BOA, and other kinds of well-known swarm optimization algorithms.

Selecting the best planting area for blueberries is an essential issue in agriculture. To better improve the effectiveness of blueberry cultivation, a machine learning-based classification model for blueberry ecological suitability was proposed for the first time and its validation was conducted by using multi-source environmental features data in this paper. The sparrow search algorithm (SSA) was adopted to optimize the CatBoost model and classify the ecological suitability of blueberries based on the selection of data features. Firstly, the Borderline-SMOTE algorithm was used to balance the number of positive and negative samples. The Variance Inflation Factor and information gain methods were applied to filter out the factors affecting the growth of blueberries. Subsequently, the processed data were fed into the CatBoost for training, and the parameters of the CatBoost were optimized to obtain the optimal model using SSA. Finally, the SSA-CatBoost model was adopted to classify the ecological suitability of blueberries and output the suitability types. Taking a study on a blueberry plantation in Majiang County, Guizhou Province, China as an example, the findings demonstrate that the AUC value of the SSA-CatBoost-based blueberry ecological suitability model is 0.921, which is 2.68% higher than that of the CatBoost (AUC = 0.897) and is significantly higher than Logistic Regression (AUC = 0.855), Support Vector Machine (AUC = 0.864), and Random Forest (AUC = 0.875). Furthermore, the ecological suitability of blueberries in Majiang County is mapped according to the classification results of different models. When comparing the actual blueberry cultivation situation in Majiang County, the classification results of the SSA-CatBoost model proposed in this paper matches best with the real blueberry cultivation situation in Majiang County, which is of a high reference value for the selection of blueberry cultivation sites.

Only the smell perception rule is considered in the butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA), which is prone to falling into a local optimum. Compared with the original BOA, an extra operator, i.e., color perception rule, is incorporated into the proposed hybrid-flash butterfly optimization algorithm (HFBOA), which makes it more in line with the actual foraging characteristics of butterflies in nature. Besides, updating the strategy of the control parameters by the logistic mapping is used in the HFBOA for enhancing the global optimal ability. The performance of the proposed method was verified by twelve benchmark functions, where the comparison experiment results show that the HFBOA converges quicker and has better stability for numerical optimization problems, which are compared with six state-of-the-art optimization methods. Additionally, the proposed HFBOA is successfully applied to six engineering constrained optimization problems (i.e., tubular column design, tension/compression spring design, cantilever beam design, etc.). The simulation results reveal that the proposed approach demonstrates superior performance in solving complex real-world engineering constrained tasks.

To address the problems of uneven distribution and low coverage of wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes in random deployment, a node coverage optimization strategy with an improved COOT bird algorithm (COOTCLCO) is proposed. Firstly, the chaotic tent map is used to initialize the population, increase the diversity of the population, and lay the foundation for the global search for the optimal solutions. Secondly, the Lévy flight strategy is used to perturb the individual positions to improve the search range of the population. Thirdly, Cauchy mutation and an opposition-based learning strategy are fused to perturb the optimal solutions to generate new solutions and enhance the ability of the algorithm to jump out of the local optimum. Finally, the COOTCLCO algorithm is applied to WSN coverage optimization problems. Simulation results show that COOTCLCO has a faster convergence speed and better search accuracy than several other typical algorithms on 23 benchmark test functions; meanwhile, the coverage rate of the COOTCLCO algorithm is increased by 9.654%, 13.888%, 6.188%, 5.39%, 1.31%, and 2.012% compared to particle swarm optimization (PSO), butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA), seagull optimization algorithm (SOA), whale optimization algorithm (WOA), Harris hawks optimization (HHO), and bald eagle search (BES), respectively. This means that in terms of coverage optimization effect, COOTCLCO can obtain a higher coverage rate compared to these algorithms. The experimental results demonstrate that COOTCLCO can effectively improve the coverage rate of sensor nodes and improve the distribution of nodes in WSN coverage optimization problems.

One of the most important challenges for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (HWSNs) is adequate network coverage and connectivity. Aiming at this problem, this paper proposes an improved wild horse optimizer algorithm (IWHO). Firstly, the population’s variety is increased by using the SPM chaotic mapping at initialization; secondly, the WHO and Golden Sine Algorithm (Golden-SA) are hybridized to improve the WHO’s accuracy and arrive at faster convergence; Thirdly, the IWHO can escape from a local optimum and broaden the search space by using opposition-based learning and the Cauchy variation strategy. The results indicate that the IWHO has the best capacity for optimization by contrasting the simulation tests with seven algorithms on 23 test functions. Finally, three sets of coverage optimization experiments in different simulated environments are designed to test the effectiveness of this algorithm. The validation results demonstrate that the IWHO can achieve better and more effective sensor connectivity and coverage ratio compared to that of several algorithms. After optimization, the HWSN’s coverage and connectivity ratio attained 98.51% and 20.04%, and after adding obstacles, 97.79% and 17.44%, respectively.

Localization is one of the key technologies in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), because the information measured by the sensors is meaningful only if the location of the sensor nodes is known. The existing localization algorithms have low localization accuracy in 3D heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (HWSNs) and cannot meet the user’s needs well. In this paper, a localization algorithm based on an improved water flow optimizer and improved max-similarity path (IWFO-IMSP) is proposed. First, based on the shortest communication path among nodes in the network, the maximum similarity path is calculated. Second, the distance between the unknown node and the anchor node is estimated using the distance of the maximum similarity path minus the distance of the dissimilar part. Third, the cosine theorem is introduced to correct the polyline distance of the path to a straight-line distance to further improve the accuracy of the distance estimation. Finally, the convergence speed and convergence ability of the water flow optimizer are improved by fusing various strategies such as Halton sequence and Cauchy mutation. The location of the unknown node is searched out by using the improved water flow optimizer (IWFO) to achieve the accurate localization. By comparing and analyzing the simulation 3D space and 3D C-space with different DOI, the localization error of IWFO-IMSP is reduced by about 70%, 80%, 12%, and 45% relative to IDV-Hop, CPPA, NLA-SP, and DV-maxhop, respectively. Therefore, the localization accuracy of IWFO-IMSP is much higher than the other four localization algorithms.