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and the
Ant Algorithm
The more ants follow a trail, the more attractive that trail
becomes for being followed
NEST FOOD
The more ants follow a trail, the more attractive that trail
becomes for being followed
Even when the tracks are equal the behavior will encourage one
over the other--convergence (Deneubourg et al)
Ants are forced to decide whether they should go left or right, and
the choice that is made is a random decision
Pheromone accumulation is faster on the shorter path
The difference in pheromone content between the two paths over
time makes the ants choose the shorter path
Positive feedback mechanism to arrive at the shortest route while
foraging
Stygmergy or stigmergetic model of communication
Different optimization problems have been explored using a
simulation of this real ant behavior
OBJECTIVE
Finding the best solution may entail an exhaustive search for all
combinations of cities. This can be prohibitive as “n” gets very
large
Heuristics like a “greedy” route doesn’t guarantee optimal
solutions
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Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering
12
∑ ∑
General Formulation - Asymmetric
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Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering
13
TSP Heuristics
4 1 3
2 2
6 9 6
2 2
5 2 7 2 8 2 2
1 2 2 1
6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
6 1 Chicago 96 105 50 41 86 46 29 56 70
2 Dallas 78 49 94 21 64 63 41 37
3 Denver 60 84 61 54 86 76 51
4 KC 45 35 20 26 17 18
5 Minn 80 36 55 59 64
6 OK City 46 50 28 8
7 Omaha 45 37 30
8 St Louis 21 45
9 Sprngfld 25
10 Wichita
450
400
350
Obj Fx:
min d
300
Way Point
250
Depot
200
150
100
50
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering
17
Initial Order Solution
500
450
400
d=3138
350
300
Way Point
250
Depot
200
150
100
50
0
0 Department
50 100 of Biomedical,
150 200 Industrial
250 and
300 Human
350 Factors
400 Engineering
450 500
18
Nearest Neighbor Solution
500
450
400
d=2108
350
300
Way Point
250
Depot
200
150
100
50
0
0 Department
50 100 of Biomedical,
150 200 Industrial
250 and
300 Human
350 Factors
400 Engineering
450 500
19
Tabu Search Solution
500
450
400
d=1830
350
300
Way Point
250
Depot
200
150
100
50
0
0 Department
50 100 of Biomedical,
150 200 Industrial
250 and
300 Human
350 Factors
400 Engineering
450 500
20
THE ANT COLONY OPTIMIZATION
METAHEURISTIC
START ACO
Helps determine the city to visit next while the ant is in a tour
Determined by variables such as the pheromone content in an
edge (i,j) at time instant t, heuristic function of the desirability of
adding edge, and their control parameters
[ ][ ]
ì t ij (t ) a h ij b
ïï
p ij (t ) = í å [t il (t )] [h il ] if j Î J k (i )
k a b
ï lÎ J k (i )
ïî 0 f j Ï J k (i )
Using the tour length for the k-th Ant, Lk, the quantity of
pheromone added to each edge belonging to the completed tour is
given by
ì Q where edge (i, j ) Î Tk (t )
ï
Dt ijk (t ) = í Lk
ïî 0 if edge (i, j ) Ï Tk (t )
τ ij (t + 1) = (1 − ρ )τ ij (t ) + ∆τ ij (t )
Found that communication among the ants via the intensity factor
is important; makes sense since it provides some global insight
Found that a good number of ants is about equal to the number of
cities
Found that the initial distribution of the ants among the cities does
not really matter
Found that an elitist strategy in which the segments on the best
solution(s) is(are) continually reinforced work well so long as there
were not too few or too many elitist solutions
Benefits
Will converge to solutions under correct circumstances
Efficient in terms of storage
Computationally pretty cheap
Involves learning
Disadvantages
Keeps primarily a local focus
Cannot handle interdependence among parameters very
well
Will need to involve penalty functions for constraints