Cuckoo Search - An Evolutionary Optimisation Algorithm

Metaheuristics are procedures that help to find or generate optimal solutions for different types of problems. Metaheuristics can be nature inspired of which Cuckoo Search is one example. It is a relatively new algorithm developed in 2009. It is inspired by brood parasitism of some cuckoo species. They lay eggs in the nests of their birds of different species. Each cuckoo lays one egg at a time and dumps it in a randomly chosen nest. The best nest with high quality of eggs(solutions) will carry over to the next generations. This paper studies the applications of this algorithm in various fields like image compression, scheduling, flowshop scheduling, medical images, energy conservation and more. This is an attempt to provide a comprehensive view on the use of this algorithm in different areas of research.