Application of ant colony algorithm for vehicle routing problems

Abstract

In recent years, mathematical methods based on the natural mechanisms of making decisions are extensively appliedin optimization problems.Repeated studies have shown that the most of the processes occurring in the nature are organized very efficiently. In particular, a number of scientific observations were held, which objects were the ant colonies. During the observation, it was found that the length of the path, laid from the anthill to a food source by ants, was close to the optimum value. Moreover, when the environment changes ant colony quickly adapts and finds new shortcuts.In order to improve the efficiency and quality of vehicle routing problem solution new approaches and algorithms are offered. Swarm intelligence algorithms refer to such a type of methods. Developed modifications of the algorithms will improve the quality of the solutions. Quality of the solutions of vehicle routing problems has direct affect on the pricing of the product. The paper provides an overview of numerical methods for solving vehicle problems and the algorithm of ant colonies is considered in details as an example.