Modified Sparrow Search Algorithm by Incorporating Multi-Strategy for Solving Mathematical Optimization Problems

The Sparrow Search Algorithm (SSA), proposed by Jiankai Xue in 2020, is a swarm intelligence optimization algorithm that has received extensive attention due to its powerful optimization-seeking ability and rapid convergence. However, similar to other swarm intelligence algorithms, the SSA has the problem of being prone to falling into local optimal solutions during the optimization process, which limits its application effectiveness. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes a Modified Sparrow Search Algorithm (MSSA), which enhances the algorithm's performance by integrating three optimization strategies. Specifically, the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) method is employed to achieve a uniform distribution of the initial population, laying a solid foundation for global search. An adaptive weighting mechanism is introduced in the producer update phase to dynamically adjust the search step size, effectively reducing the risk of the algorithm falling into local optima in later iterations. Meanwhile, the cat mapping perturbation and Cauchy mutation operations are integrated to further enhance the algorithm's global exploration ability and local development efficiency, accelerating the convergence process and improving the quality of the solutions. This study systematically validates the performance of the MSSA through multi-dimensional experiments. The MSSA demonstrates excellent optimization performance on 23 benchmark test functions and the CEC2019 standard test function set. Its application to three practical engineering problems, namely the design of welded beams, reducers, and cantilever beams, successfully verifies the effectiveness of the algorithm in real-world scenarios. By comparing it with deterministic algorithms such as DIRET and BIRMIN, and based on the five-dimensional test functions generated by the GKLS generator, the global optimization ability of the MSSA is thoroughly evaluated. In addition, the successful application of the MSSA to the problem of robot path planning further highlights its application advantages in complex practical scenarios. Experimental results show that, compared with the original SSA, the MSSA has achieved significant improvements in terms of convergence speed, optimization accuracy, and robustness, providing new ideas and methods for the research and practical application of swarm intelligence optimization algorithms.