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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).'"

16 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 Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Anthill inside

    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.
    3. Re:Oh really? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      Yet that doesn't mean that we still use that

      "We"? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?:

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  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

    2. Re:Really not new by Bozzio · · Score: 2

      How can somethimg from the 90s be "Next Generation?"

      Um... Star Tek?

      --
      I just pooped your party.
  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. Old news? by The+Dancing+Panda · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have a textbook from 4 years ago with this algorithm in it. It was being taught in my Biologically Inspired Computing class.

    1. 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.

  5. novely? by rackeer · · Score: 2

    I could be wrong, but shouldn't novely be a criterion for submission? ACO has been used since the early 1990s.

  6. Binary Pheremones by Mr+Bubble · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As someone in the comments of TFA pointed out, "The interesting thing here is the 'secondary explore state' (seeming second pheromone state) found by the mathematicians.". So, they basically walk around trailing either a 1 a zero or both. I wonder if it is a single bit at a time like a code that goes along in a track or if it is more diffuse than that.

    --
    "The world is a construct of forceful imagination. Those who don't know walk around in the reailties of those who do"
  7. 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.

  8. Previous art by gmuslera · · Score: 5, Funny

    Windows already was based on algorithms based on ants... or maybe other kind of bugs

  9. Re:Its not an algorithm! by fatphil · · Score: 2

    It's not the heuristics that are the problem. If the heuristics may lead to the steps never terminating, then those steps do not define an algorithm. Algorithms must be finite.

    --
    Also FatPhil on SoylentNews, id 863
  10. Thants by FuzzyFox · · Score: 2

    Thanks, Ants.... Thants.

    --
    splunge (n) -- A good idea.. but it could be lousy... and I'm not being indecisive!