Hybrid Flower Pollination Algorithm with Artificial Neural Network (FPA-ANN) Classification Model for Handwritten Character Recognition (HCR)

Abstract

This study addresses the concerns regarding the performance of Handwritten Character Recognition (HCR) systems, focusing on the classification stage. It is widely acknowledged that the development of the classification model significantly impacts the overall performance of HCR. The problems identified specifically pertain to the classification model, particularly in the context of the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) learning problem, leading to low accuracy in recognizing handwritten characters. The objective of this study is to improve and refine the ANN classification model to achieve better HCR. To achieve this goal, this study proposed a hybrid Flower Pollination Algorithm with Artificial Neural Network (FPA-ANN) classification model for HCR. The FPA is one of the metaheuristic approaches is utilized as an optimization technique to enhance the performance of ANN, particularly by optimizing the network training process of ANN. The experimentation phase involves using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) handwritten character database. Finally, the proposed FPA-ANN classification model is analysed based on generated confusion matrix and evaluated performance of the classification model in terms of precision, sensitivity, specificity, F-Score and accuracy. The results demonstrate that the hybrid FPA-ANN model achieves a 1.59 percent improvement in accuracy compared to the single ANN model.