Optimization Algorithms Inspired by Biological Ants and Swarn Behavior
[Paulo Eduardo Merloti] - June 2004

Abstract: Ants are simple creatures that inspire many researchers in the field of Computer Science to develop new solutions for optimization and artificial intelligence problems. Some aspects of ant behavior can be implemented in a computer environment in order to solve a particular problem or to derive emergent behavior similar to ant colonies behavior. In this paper we give a brief overview of some functions of biological ants and the colony behavior generated from the interaction of a swarm of ants. Following we review the main existing work from the main researchers in the field on applying the ant metaphor in solving hard combinatorial optimization problems.

Simulation of Artificial Ant's Behavior in a Digital Environment
[Paulo Eduardo Merloti] - October 2004

Abstract: Ants present a very good natural metaphor to evolutionary computation. While their individual computational power is small compared to more evolved species, it is the power of their colonies that inspire computer scientists. This paper presents “Ants Box Simulator”, software that allows the simulation of ants in a restricted environment. We demonstrate how some parameters affect their performance on finding a solution to a given problem.

 

Ant Box Simulator
[Delphi 6 - Freeware - Source Code available by request] - January 2005

Ant Sim is a simulator of an ant box, where ants have to find the exit of the box by themselves.
[Executable | Zip File]