SamACO: variable sampling ant colony optimization algorithm for continuous optimization

An ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm offers algorithmic techniques for optimization by simulating the foraging behavior of a group of ants to perform incremental solution constructions and to realize a pheromone laying-and-following mechanism. Although ACO is first designed for solving discrete (combinatorial) optimization problems, the ACO procedure is also applicable to continuous optimization. This paper presents a new way of extending ACO to solving continuous optimization problems by focusing on continuous variable sampling as a key to transforming ACO from discrete optimization to continuous optimization. The proposed SamACO algorithm consists of three major steps, i.e., the generation of candidate variable values for selection, the ants’ solution construction, and the pheromone update process. The distinct characteristics of SamACO are the cooperation of a novel sampling method for discretizing the continuous search space and an efficient incremental solution construction method based on the sampled values. The performance of SamACO is tested using continuous numerical functions with unimodal and multimodal features. Compared with some state-of-the-art algorithms, including traditional ant-based algorithms and representative computational intelligence algorithms for continuous optimization, the performance of SamACO is seen competitive and promising

Emergent communication enhances foraging behaviour in evolved swarms controlled by Spiking Neural Networks

Social insects such as ants communicate via pheromones which allows them to coordinate their activity and solve complex tasks as a swarm, e.g. foraging for food. This behavior was shaped through evolutionary processes. In computational models, self-coordination in swarms has been implemented using probabilistic or simple action rules to shape the decision of each agent and the collective behavior. However, manual tuned decision rules may limit the behavior of the swarm. In this work we investigate the emergence of self-coordination and communication in evolved swarms without defining any explicit rule. We evolve a swarm of agents representing an ant colony. We use an evolutionary algorithm to optimize a spiking neural network (SNN) which serves as an artificial brain to control the behavior of each agent. The goal of the evolved colony is to find optimal ways to forage for food and return it to the nest in the shortest amount of time. In the evolutionary phase, the ants are able to learn to collaborate by depositing pheromone near food piles and near the nest to guide other ants. The pheromone usage is not manually encoded into the network; instead, this behavior is established through the optimization procedure. We observe that pheromone-based communication enables the ants to perform better in comparison to colonies where communication via pheromone did not emerge. We assess the foraging performance by comparing the SNN based model to a rule based system. Our results show that the SNN based model can efficiently complete the foraging task in a short amount of time. Our approach illustrates self coordination via pheromone emerges as a result of the network optimization. This work serves as a proof of concept for the possibility of creating complex applications utilizing SNNs as underlying architectures for multi-agent interactions where communication and self-coordination is desired.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figure

Image Edge Feature Extraction and Refining Based on Genetic-Ant Colony Algorithm

Edge is composed by a collection of its nearby pixels which has a step change or changes in roof, an image is an information system and most of its information comes from the edges. This paper gives a brief overview of the status and the importance of image edge detection and introduces the research status of the image edge detection. After that, it introduces the basic principle and the main steps of the genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm. On the basis of these, the paper proposed a new hybrid algorithm for the image edge extraction and refining, which combined the genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm. Through the analysis of the time-speed graph of the genetic algorithm and the ant colony algorithm, we can find the best fusion point between the genetic algorithm and the ant colony algorithm. The experiment indicated the proposed hybrid algorithm can make the full use of the image information, the simulation time is shorter, the image edge is more continuous, and preserved the outline of original image more completely

Mining Aircraft Telemetry Data With Evolutionary Algorithms

The Ganged Phased Array Radar - Risk Mitigation System (GPAR-RMS) was a mobile ground-based sense-and-avoid system for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations developed by the University of North Dakota. GPAR-RMS detected proximate aircraft with various sensor systems, including a 2D radar and an Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver. Information about those aircraft was then displayed to UAS operators via visualization software developed by the University of North Dakota. The Risk Mitigation (RM) subsystem for GPAR-RMS was designed to estimate the current risk of midair collision, between the Unmanned Aircraft (UA) and a General Aviation (GA) aircraft flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) in the surrounding airspace, for UAS operations in Class E airspace (i.e. below 18,000 feet MSL). However, accurate probabilistic models for the behavior of pilots of GA aircraft flying under VFR in Class E airspace were needed before the RM subsystem could be implemented. In this dissertation the author presents the results of data mining an aircraft telemetry data set from a consecutive nine month period in 2011. This aircraft telemetry data set consisted of Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) data obtained from Garmin G1000 devices onboard every Cessna 172 in the University of North Dakota\u27s training fleet. Data from aircraft which were potentially within the controlled airspace surrounding controlled airports were excluded. Also, GA aircraft in the FDM data flying in Class E airspace were assumed to be flying under VFR, which is usually a valid assumption. Complex subpaths were discovered from the aircraft telemetry data set using a novel application of an ant colony algorithm. Then, probabilistic models were data mined from those subpaths using extensions of the Genetic K-Means (GKA) and Expectation- Maximization (EM) algorithms. The results obtained from the subpath discovery and data mining suggest a pilot flying a GA aircraft near to an uncontrolled airport will perform different maneuvers than a pilot flying a GA aircraft far from an uncontrolled airport, irrespective of the altitude of the GA aircraft. However, since only aircraft telemetry data from the University of North Dakota\u27s training fleet were data mined, these results are not likely to be applicable to GA aircraft operating in a non-training environment

Energy-efficient routing protocols in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks

Sensor networks feature low-cost sensor devices with wireless network capability, limited transmit power, resource constraints and limited battery energy. The usage of cheap and tiny wireless sensors will allow very large networks to be deployed at a feasible cost to provide a bridge between information systems and the physical world. Such large-scale deployments will require routing protocols that scale to large network sizes in an energy-efficient way. This thesis addresses the design of such network routing methods. A classification of existing routing protocols and the key factors in their design (i.e., hardware, topology, applications) provides the motivation for the new three-tier architecture for heterogeneous networks built upon a generic software framework (GSF). A range of new routing algorithms have hence been developed with the design goals of scalability and energy-efficient performance of network protocols. They are respectively TinyReg - a routing algorithm based on regular-graph theory, TSEP - topological stable election protocol, and GAAC - an evolutionary algorithm based on genetic algorithms and ant colony algorithms. The design principle of our routing algorithms is that shortening the distance between the cluster-heads and the sink in the network, will minimise energy consumption in order to extend the network lifetime, will achieve energy efficiency. Their performance has been evaluated by simulation in an extensive range of scenarios, and compared to existing algorithms. It is shown that the newly proposed algorithms allow long-term continuous data collection in large networks, offering greater network longevity than existing solutions. These results confirm the validity of the GSF as an architectural approach to the deployment of large wireless sensor networks

An integrated ACO approach for the joint production and preventive maintenance scheduling problem in the flowshop sequencing problem.

International audienceIn this paper, an integrated ACO approach to solve joint production and preventive maintenance scheduling problem in permutation flowshops is considered. A newly developed antcolony algorithm is proposed and analyzed for solving this problem, based on a common representation of production and maintenance data, to obtain a joint schedule that is, subsequently, improved by a new local search procedure. The goal is to optimize a common objective function which takes into account both maintenance and production criteria. We compare the results obtained with our algorithm to those of an integrated genetic algorithm developed in previous works. The results and experiments carried out indicate that the proposed ant-colony algorithm provide very effective solutions for this problem