Blog: Riders on a Swarm

Riders on a Swarm
Economist (08/12/10)

Free University of Brussels (FUB) researchers are developing artificial intelligence systems based on ant behavior. In 1992, FUB researcher Marco Dorigo and his team developed Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), an algorithm that analyzes problems by simulating a group of ants wandering over an area and laying down pheromones. ACO has since grown into a wide family of algorithms that have been applied to various applications. For example, European distributors use a program called AntRoute, which takes about 15 minutes to produce a delivery plan for 1,200 trucks. The researchers also have developed AntNet, a routing protocol in which packets of information jump from node to node, leaving a trace that signals the "quality" of their trip as they go. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used for continuous problems that have a potentially infinite number of solutions. There are now about 650 tested PSO applications, including those for image and video analysis, antenna design, and medical diagnostic systems. Dorigo is currently working on the Swarmanoid project, which aims to develop a swarm of cheap, small robots that cooperate using swarm intelligence.

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