Ant colony optimization and the vehicle routing problem

Abstract

Ant Colony Optimization algorithms are swarm intelligence algorithms, and they are inspired by the behavior of real ants. They are well suited to solving computational problems which involve traversing graphs. The Vehicle Routing Problem is a combinatorial optimization problem which is studied in the eld of operations research. Its numerous variants have several real-life applications. In this thesis, I will present how Ant Colony Optimization algorithms have been used to solve a particular variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem - the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows.