Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Next Generation of Algorithms Inspired by Ants

Posted by samzenpus on from the bugs-for-bugs dept.

letsurock writes "Ants' capability to find the shortest route through a maze in an hour, and to find the second shortest route when the first path was obstructed, has inspired researchers creating algorithms for the future. From the article: 'Finding the most efficient path through a busy network is a common challenge faced by delivery drivers, telephone routers and engineers. To solve these optimization problems using software, computer scientists have often sought inspiration from ant colonies in nature — creating algorithms that simulate the behavior of ants who find the most efficient routes from their nests to food sources by following each other's volatile pheromone trails. The most widely used of these ant-inspired algorithms is known as Ant Colony Optimization (ACO).'"

8 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Oh really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I thought it was called Dykstra's algorithm.

    1. Re:Oh really? by pak9rabid · · Score: 1, Informative

      I thought it was called Dijkstra's algorithm.

      Fixed that for you

    2. Re:Oh really? by TeknoHog · · Score: 3, Informative

      "y" is an old, alternative spelling for the Dutch digraph "ij".

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IJ_(digraph)

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  2. Really not new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ok guys. I did my Ph D on this subject some years ago. ACO was formalized in 1996 (by Marco Dorigo), and the modeling of ants behavior dates back to 1989 (J.-L. Deneubourg). So really nothing new here.

    1. Re:Really not new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      TFA says "Provided by University of Sydney."

      This wasn't a computer science paper, this is a biology paper bublished a few days ago based on an experiment with actual ants. From the paper's abstract:

      Contrary to previous studies, our study shows that mass-recruiting ant species such as the Argentine ant can forage effectively in a dynamic environment. Our results also suggest that novel optimisation algorithms can benefit from stronger biological mimicry.

      http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/214/1/50

  3. Ant algorithms are old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    has been done since at least 1992. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Ant_colony_optimization

  4. I was gonna make another 'old news' comment... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have personally done research using ACO, so I was all ready to point out with the rest of the /. mob that this is nothing new... then I actually RTFA.

    Not entirely novel, but TFA is not about ACO. It's about using REAL LIVE ANTS to solve Hanoi.

    Bad summaries strike again.

  5. Re:Old news? by camperslo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Some may laugh at this technology but sniffing the pheromone trails of frat boys may very well be the shortest path to beer.