An efficient clustering protocol driven by hybrid intelligence for improving energy efficiency in industrial internet of things

The stringent energy constraints of sensor nodes in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) pose a critical challenge to network sustainability. While clustering routing protocols are effective in mitigating energy dissipation, optimal Cluster Head (CH) selection remains an NP-hard optimization problem. Existing metaheuristic approaches often suffer from premature convergence and imbalanced exploration-exploitation capabilities, leading to uneven energy loads and “energy holes.” To address thes