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Volume 11
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10.3390/biomimetics11010010
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Binary Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm for Combinatorial Problems

by
Broderick Crawford
1,*,
Álex Paz
2,
Ricardo Soto
1,
Álvaro Peña Fritz
2,
Gino Astorga
3,
Felipe Cisternas-Caneo
1,
Claudio Patricio Toledo Mac-lean
1,
Fabián Solís-Piñones
1,
José Lara Arce
1 and
Giovanni Giachetti
4
1
Escuela de Ingeniería Informática, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Avenida Brasil 2241, Valparaíso 2362807, Chile
2
Escuela de Ingeniería de Construcción y Transporte, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Avenida Brasil 2147, Valparaíso 2362804, Chile
3
Escuela de Negocios Internacionales, Universidad de Valparaíso, Alcalde Prieto Nieto 452, Viña del Mar 2572048, Chile
4
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Andres Bello, Antonio Varas 880, Providencia, Santiago 7591538, Chile
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biomimetics 2026, 11(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics11010010
Submission received: 27 October 2025 / Revised: 12 December 2025 / Accepted: 17 December 2025 / Published: 25 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological and Bio-Inspired Algorithms)
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Abstract

Metaheuristics are a fundament pillar of Industry 4.0, as they allow for complex optimization problems to be solved by finding good solutions in a reasonable amount of computational time. One category of important problems in modern industry is that of binary problems, where decision variables can take values of zero or one. In this work, we propose a binary version of the Pufferfish optimization algorithm (BPOA), which was originally created to solve continuous problems. The binary mapping follows a two-step technique, first transforming using transfer functions and then discretizing using binarization rules. We study representative pairings of transfer functions and binarization rules, comparing our algorithm with Particle Swarm Optimization, Secretary Bird Optimization Algorithm, and Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm with identical computational budgets. To validate its correct functioning, we solved binary problems present in industry, such as the Set Covering Problem together with its Unicost variant, as well as the Knapsack Problem. The results we achieved with regard to these problems were promising and statistically validated. The tests performed on the executions indicate that many pair differences are not statistically significant when both methods are already close to the optimal level, and significance arises precisely where the descriptive gaps widen, underscoring that transfer–rule pairing is the main performance factor. BPOA is a competitive and flexible framework whose effectiveness is mainly governed by the discretization design.
Keywords: metaheuristic; bio-inspired algorithm; Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm; binarization metaheuristic; bio-inspired algorithm; Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm; binarization
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MDPI and ACS Style

Crawford, B.; Paz, Á.; Soto, R.; Peña Fritz, Á.; Astorga, G.; Cisternas-Caneo, F.; Toledo Mac-lean, C.P.; Solís-Piñones, F.; Lara Arce, J.; Giachetti, G. Binary Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm for Combinatorial Problems. Biomimetics 2026, 11, 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics11010010

AMA Style

Crawford B, Paz Á, Soto R, Peña Fritz Á, Astorga G, Cisternas-Caneo F, Toledo Mac-lean CP, Solís-Piñones F, Lara Arce J, Giachetti G. Binary Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm for Combinatorial Problems. Biomimetics. 2026; 11(1):10. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics11010010

Chicago/Turabian Style

Crawford, Broderick, Álex Paz, Ricardo Soto, Álvaro Peña Fritz, Gino Astorga, Felipe Cisternas-Caneo, Claudio Patricio Toledo Mac-lean, Fabián Solís-Piñones, José Lara Arce, and Giovanni Giachetti. 2026. "Binary Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm for Combinatorial Problems" Biomimetics 11, no. 1: 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics11010010

APA Style

Crawford, B., Paz, Á., Soto, R., Peña Fritz, Á., Astorga, G., Cisternas-Caneo, F., Toledo Mac-lean, C. P., Solís-Piñones, F., Lara Arce, J., & Giachetti, G. (2026). Binary Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm for Combinatorial Problems. Biomimetics, 11(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics11010010

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