Skip to main content

Improving the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm for the Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem and Its Application

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 8906))

Abstract

This paper addresses our solution to the Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem (MDVRP) based on the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm. The first part introduces the basic concepts and principles of the algorithm along with its key parameters. The primary part of the article deals with the improvement of the original algorithm. The improvement consists in the distribution of algorithm’s key processes, which can be executed simultaneously, to the individual cores of a multi-core processor. This part also includes several experiments (based on the Cordeau’s test instances) we conducted to verify the value of improvement. The last part of the article presents the real application of the problem and our solution. Finally, the paper summarizes some perspectives of our future work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Dantzig, G.B., Ramser, J.H.: The Truck Dispatching Problem. Management Science 6(1), 80–91 (1959)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Dorigo, M.: Optimization, Learning and Natural Algorithms. PhD thesis, Politecnico di Milano, Milan (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  3. NEO Web: Networking and Emerging Optimization. University of Malaga, Spain, http://neo.lcc.uma.es/vrp/vrp-instances/multiple-depot-vrp-instances/ (accessed March 10, 2014)

  4. Hjorring, C.: The Vehicle Routing Problem and Local Search Metaheuristics. PhD thesis, University of Auckland, Auckland (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Laporte, G.: The Vehicle Routing Problem: An overview of exact and approximate algorithms. European Journal of Operational Research 59(3), 345–358 (1992)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Caldeira, T.C.M.: Optimization of the Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem: an Application to Logistics and Transport of Biomass for Electricity Production. Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ma, J., Yuan, J.: Ant Colony Algorithm for Multiple-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem with Shortest Finish Time. In: Zaman, M., Liang, Y., Siddiqui, S.M., Wang, T., Liu, V., Lu, C. (eds.) CETS 2010. CCIS, vol. 113, pp. 114–123. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Narasimha, K.S.V., Kivelevitch, E., Kumar, M.: Ant Colony Optimization Technique to Solve Min-Max MultiDepot Vehicle Routing Problem. In: American Control Conference (ACC 2012), Montreal, pp. 3980–3985 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Dorigo, M., Gambardella, L.M.: Ant Colonies for the Traveling Salesman Problem. Biosystems 43(2), 73–81 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Blum, C.: ACO Applied to Group Shop Scheduling: A Case Study on Intensification and Diversification. In: Dorigo, M., Di Caro, G.A., Sampels, M. (eds.) ANTS 2002. LNCS, vol. 2463, pp. 14–27. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Stützle, T.: MAX-MIN Ant System for Quadratic Assignment Problem. Technical Report AIDA-97-04, Darmstadt (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  12. de Silva, R.M.A., Ramalho, G.R.: Ant system for the set covering problem. IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics 5, 3129–3133 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Valis, D., Zak, L., Walek, A., Pietrucha-Urbanik, K.: Selected mathematical functions used for operation data information. In: Safety, Reliability and Risk Analysis: Beyond the Horizon, pp. 1303–1308 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Glos, J., Zak, L., Valis, D.: Possibilities of mathematical modelling of tribo-diagnostics data. Transport Means, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas (2013)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Stodola, P., Mazal, J., Podhorec, M. (2014). Improving the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm for the Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem and Its Application. In: Hodicky, J. (eds) Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systems. MESAS 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8906. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13823-7_32

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13823-7_32

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-13822-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-13823-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics