The optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem is formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem involving nonlinear objective function with multiple local minima. In this paper, as a new approach, different ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms are applied to the reactive power dispatch problem. Ant system (AS), the firstly introduced ant colony optimization algorithm, and its direc...

We explore the relation between memcomputing, namely computing with and in memory, and swarm intelligence algorithms. In particular, we show that one can design memristive networks to solve short-path optimization problems that can also be solved by ant-colony algorithms. By employing appropriate memristive elements one can demonstrate an almost one-toone correspondence between memcomputing and...

This paper proposes an approximate optimization algorithm combining P systems with ant colony optimization, called ACOPS, to solve traveling salesman problems, which are well-known and extensively studied NP-complete combinatorial optimization problems. ACOPS uses the pheromone model and pheromone update rules defined by ant colony optimization algorithms, and the hierarchical membrane structur...

Set covering problem is the model for many important industrial applications. In this paper, we solve some benchmarks of this problem with ant colony optimization algorithms using a new transition rule. A look-ahead mechanism was incorporated to check constraint consistency in ant computing. Computational results are presented showing the advantages to use this additional mechanism to ant syste...

Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) is a well known metaheuristic that has proven successful at solving Travelling Salesman Problems (TSP). However, ACO suffers from two issues; the first is that the technique has significant memory requirements for storing pheromone levels on edges between cities and second, the iterative probabilistic nature of choosing which city to visit next at every step is com...

Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms are computational problem-solving methods that are inspired by the complex behaviors of ant colonies; specifically, the ways in which ants interact with each other and their environment to optimize the overall performance of the ant colony. Our eventual goal is to develop and experiment with ACO methods that can more effectively adapt to dynamically chan...

Water distribution systems (WDSs) are costly infrastructure, and much attention has been given to the application of optimisation methods to minimise design costs. In previous studies, Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) has been found to perform extremely competitively for WDS optimisation. In this paper, five ACO algorithms are tested: one basic algorithm (Ant System) and four more advanced algorit...

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a new population oriented search metaphor that has been successfully applied toNP-hard combinatorial optimization problems. In this paper we discuss parallelization strategies for Ant Colony Optimization algorithms. We empirically test the most simple strategy, that of executing parallel independent runs of an algorithm. The empirical tests are performed applyin...

The clustering algorithms have evolved over the last decade. With the continuous success of natural inspired algorithms in solving many engineering problems, it is imperative to scrutinize the success of these methods applied to data clustering. These naturally inspired algorithms are mainly stochastic search and optimization techniques, guided by the principles of collective behavior and self-...