An Investigation of Parameters in Ant Colony Optimization for a Path Optimization Algorithm

The key parameters influencing the result of path optimization by Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm is investigated. In the present ongoing research project, the ultimate goal is to use ACO for finding an optimum path between two given points in an unknown environment using a group of unicycle type mobile robots. As a first step, computer simulation is conducted considering two paths both starting from the nest and ending to the food. This investigation leads to a heuristic criterion for determining the number of ants (agents) needed to successfully find the optimum path. The algorithm is finally extended and examined over a plane surface. The results are again studied to find some rules and optimum parameter values for a more general case.