Parallel Implementation of Travelling Salesman Problem using Ant Colony Optimization

Abstract

Within the Artificial Intelligence community, there is great need for fast and accurate traversal algorithms, specifically those that find a path from a start to goal with minimum cost. Cost can be distance, time, money, energy, etc. Travelling salesman problem (TSP) is a combinatorial optimization problem. TSP is the most intensively studied problem in the area of optimization. Ant colony optimization (ACO) is a population-based metaheuristic that can be used to find approximate solutions to difficult optimization problems. There have been many efforts in the past to provide time efficient solutions for the problem, both exact and approximate. This paper demonstrates the implementation of TSP using ant colony optimization(ACO).The solution to this problem enjoys wide applicability in a variety of practical fields.TSP in its purest form has several applications such as planning, logistics, and manufacture of microchips, military and traffic.