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Nowadays, multi-class learning processes have attracted a vast amount of attention due to their complexities and progressive development in various fields. This study focuses on the prediction of semantic categories of Arabic hadith texts by combining the Knowledge-Graph (KG) with the Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) method. Knowledge-Graph is constructed based on the correlation between features and categories. The links' weights depend on how frequently the features and the categories occur together, either directly or indirectly. Knowledge-Graph also directly gauges the weights of the links among features. Finally, the ants traverse the graph to select features the most prominent. Features are important whenever they are mentioned frequently in Hadith texts, and they belong to one or fewer categories. It is worth considering that the more relationships between one feature and multiple categories, the less likely it is to be selected. In our analytical experiments, six famous books of the Prophetic Sunnah were used, including more than thirty thousand hadiths with a number of categories slightly under 120. On the experimental side, we found promising results when the ACO-KG model has combined with machine learning classifiers, namely an increase of 3% in the classification task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract To identify patterns in big medical datasets and use Deep Learning and Machine Learning (ML) to reliably diagnose Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD), researchers are currently delving deeply into these fields. Training on large datasets and producing highly accurate validation results is exceedingly difficult. Furthermore, early and precise diagnosis is necessary due to the increased global prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the increasing complexity of healthcare datasets makes it challenging to detect feature connections and produce precise predictions. To address these issues, the Intelligent Cardiovascular Disease Diagnosis based on Ant Colony Optimisation with Enhanced Deep Learning (ICVD-ACOEDL) model was developed. This model employs feature selection (FS) and hyperparameter optimization to diagnose CVD. Applying a min–max scaler, medical data is first consistently prepared. The key feature that sets ICVD-ACOEDL apart is the use of Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) to select an optimal feature subset, which in turn helps to upgrade the performance of the ensuring deep learning enhanced neural network (DLENN) classifier. The model reforms the hyperparameters of DLENN for CVD classification using Bayesian optimization. Comprehensive evaluations on benchmark medical datasets show that ICVD-ACOEDL exceeds existing techniques, indicating that it could have a significant impact on CVD diagnosis. The model furnishes a workable way to increase CVD classification efficiency and accuracy in real-world medical situations by incorporating ACO for feature selection, min–max scaling for data pre-processing, and Bayesian optimization for hyperparameter tweaking.

To identify patterns in big medical datasets and use Deep Learning and Machine Learning (ML) to reliably diagnose Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD), researchers are currently delving deeply into these fields. Training on large datasets and producing highly accurate validation results is exceedingly difficult. Furthermore, early and precise diagnosis is necessary due to the increased global prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the increasing complexity of healthcare datasets makes it challenging to detect feature connections and produce precise predictions. To address these issues, the Intelligent Cardiovascular Disease Diagnosis based on Ant Colony Optimisation with Enhanced Deep Learning (ICVD-ACOEDL) model was developed. This model employs feature selection (FS) and hyperparameter optimization to diagnose CVD. Applying a min–max scaler, medical data is first consistently prepared. The key feature that sets ICVD-ACOEDL apart is the use of Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) to select an optimal feature subset, which in turn helps to upgrade the performance of the ensuring deep learning enhanced neural network (DLENN) classifier. The model reforms the hyperparameters of DLENN for CVD classification using Bayesian optimization. Comprehensive evaluations on benchmark medical datasets show that ICVD-ACOEDL exceeds existing techniques, indicating that it could have a significant impact on CVD diagnosis. The model furnishes a workable way to increase CVD classification efficiency and accuracy in real-world medical situations by incorporating ACO for feature selection, min–max scaling for data pre-processing, and Bayesian optimization for hyperparameter tweaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to model group preference decision-making to implement Industry 4.0 on food and beverage small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). An ant colony optimisation was adopted to model the decision-making process based on the travelling salesman problem. The model was demonstrated on three preferences of Industry 4.0, namely, ergonomic work methods, machineries and tools, and e-commerce and promotion. The Likert-scale Kansei words data were obtained from 120 SMEs' manager in Indonesia. The data were then plotted to Cartesian coordinates with the x and y-axes showing the mode and average values, respectively, and were simulated in a sequence using ACO. The results indicated that machinery and tools were the most preferred to implement Industry 4.0. Adaptiveness was the most preferred attribute in making the first decision. The benchmarking demonstrated ACO performed better than genetic algorithm in modelling group preference. The group preference was also compared to trust level and the finding showed a high correlation between both constructs. The high trust in the group preferences is expected to contribute for the sustainability of Industry 4.0. The method enriches various existing theoretical approaches for group preference decision-making and applicable to assist the SME's management for implementation of Industry 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to adapt a Hybrid Ant Colony Optimisation algorithm to solve a new mathematic model for the Capacited Electric Vehicle Routing Problem (CEVRP), with random customer demands being to be served from a depot by electric vehicles of known limited load capacity. The computational results are given for CEVRP benchmarks in the deterministic case, and which shows that this adaptation is competitive with another method of the literature and that new best so far solutions have been obtained. The same benchmarks are used to show the viability of the proposed approach for the CEVRP with stochastic customer demands generated by a known probability distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In open networks, the geometric deformation and common image processing are common image manipulation modes, which pose a great challenge in robust watermarking. To improve the robustness of GRHFM‐based watermarking, a watermarking algorithm based on the fast GRHFM calculation method and ant colony optimization (ACO) based fractional parameter selection method is proposed. With the similarity between the discrete Fourier transform and GRHFM moment calculation, the algorithm utilizes fast Fourier transform to improve the GRHFM calculation accuracy and speed. To select the optimal GRHFM fractional parameter for watermarking algorithm, ACO is introduced to the fractional parameter adaptive selection method. Here, the fast Fourier transform‐based calculation method is combined with the adaptive parameter selection method to maximize the invisibility and robustness of watermarking. The experimental results indicate that the algorithm achieves higher robustness with the same payload and invisibility compared with other existing watermarking methods.

With the increasing demand for multi-variety and small-batch products, it's necessary to frequently dispatch and replace the progressive press dies on the stamping production lines to ensure the diversity of processed automobile covering parts. This paper formulates a die scheduling problem with twin-crane transportation (DSP-TCT) encountered in the stamping production line, which concentrates on the scheduling of transporting dies between the production line and warehouse by twin cranes with satisfying crane distance constraint, die position constraint, and precedence constraint. To solve DSP-TCT, this paper proposes a node sequence-based ant colony optimisation algorithm (NS-ACO). In this algorithm, each node represents a single die transportation task with action and time information executed by the twin cranes. The combination of adjacent nodes with a high time utilisation rate can be accumulated as heuristic priority knowledge for guiding optimisation. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the NS-ACO algorithm, numerical experiments with three different die stacking strategies are executed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of a Green Vehicle Routing Problem is to find an optimal route for alternative fuel vehicles to minimize the overall travelling distances while reducing energy consumption and CO2emissions. In this problem each vehicle handles a subset of customers/orders, leaving from and returning to the depot, with respect to maximum distance travelled, while minimizing energy consumptions. We proposed a time window‐based GVRP solution (GVRP‐TW) with exact routing approach. Wherein, each route serves a subset of customers/orders with minimum intermediate refuelling/recharges. To test our method, we conducted experiments using MATLAB software on a set of three reference problem specimens (C‐101, R‐101 and RC‐11). Our approach, evaluated on these benchmark problems, par exceeds in performance in relation to the existing VRP methods (like tabu search, variable neighbourhood search, and GRASP). Moreover, the proposed GVRP‐TW can be further optimized to solve other VRP problems with energy minimisations and less intermediate stops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In open networks, the geometric deformation and common image processing are common image manipulation modes, which pose a great challenge in robust watermarking. To improve the robustness of GRHFM‐based watermarking, a watermarking algorithm based on the fast GRHFM calculation method and ant colony optimization (ACO) based fractional parameter selection method is proposed. With the similarity between the discrete Fourier transform and GRHFM moment calculation, the algorithm utilizes fast Fourier transform to improve the GRHFM calculation accuracy and speed. To select the optimal GRHFM fractional parameter for watermarking algorithm, ACO is introduced to the fractional parameter adaptive selection method. Here, the fast Fourier transform‐based calculation method is combined with the adaptive parameter selection method to maximize the invisibility and robustness of watermarking. The experimental results indicate that the algorithm achieves higher robustness with the same payload and invisibility compared with other existing watermarking methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structure from motion (SfM) using optical images has been an important prerequisite for reconstructing three‐dimensional (3D) landforms. Although various algorithms have been developed in the past, they suffer from many image pairs for feature matching and recursive searching for the most suitable image to add to SfM reconstruction. Thus, carrying out SfM is computationally costly. This research proposes a boosting SfM (B‐SfM) pipeline containing two phases, indexing graph network (IGN) and graph tracking, to accelerate SfM reconstruction. The IGN intends to form image pairs presenting desirable spatial correlation to reduce the time costs spent for feature matching. Building on the IGN, graph tracking integrates ant colony optimisation and greedy sorting algorithms to encode an optimum image sequence to boost SfM reconstruction. Compared to the results derived from other available means, the experimental results show that the proposed approach can accelerate the two phases, feature matching and 3D reconstruction, by up to 14 times faster. The quality of the camera poses recovered is retained or even slightly improved. As a result, the developed B‐SfM can efficiently achieve SfM reconstruction by suppressing the time cost in the fashion of image pair selection for feature matching and image order determination for more efficient SfM reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Horizontal penetration in granular media is ubiquitous, from tunneling and geotechnical site investigation, to root growth and the locomotion of burrowing animals in nature. This contribution couples the discrete element method (DEM) with ant colony optimisation, a heuristic optimisation algorithm, to find the optimal tip shapes to minimise drag and lift forces during horizontal penetration. The tip which minimizes drag has a slender profile with a low tip curvature, to give a drag force that is 15.6 % lower compared to a conventional CPT intruder, however this shape induces a downwards force that increases with intruder depth. Conversely, the tip that minimizes lift is blunt, with a high tip curvature and short width, and reduces the drag and lift forces by 4.5 % and 30.8 % (respectively) compared to the CPT. The lift and drag forces are competing optimisation objectives, thus the tip shape with the optimal trade-off between drag and lift forces can be established using Pareto optimality. The Pareto optimal tip shape reduces the drag and lift forces by 10.7 % and 19.4 % respectively, and is strikingly similar to the profile of a sandfish. This contribution shows that when a common goal exists, bio-inspired solutions can offer an optimal solution to engineering applications. We also show the potential to integrate DEM simulations within an optimization framework to develop innovative design solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the challenge of applying ant colony optimisation algorithms to imbalanced datasets, focusing on a bankruptcy dataset. The application of ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms has been limited by their performance on imbalanced datasets, particularly within bankruptcy prediction where the some of bankruptcy cases leads to skewed data distributions. Traditional ACO algorithms, including the original Ant-Miner, often fail to accurately classify minority classes, which is a critical shortcoming in the context of financial distress analysis. Hence, this study proposes an improved algorithm, the Hellinger Distance Ant-Miner (HD-AntMiner), which employs Hellinger distance as the heuristic for ants to gauge the similarity or dissimilarity between probability distributions. The effectiveness of HD-AntMiner is benchmarked against established classifiers--PART and J48--as well as the conventional Ant-Miner, using public datasets and a specialized dataset of 759 Shariahcompliant securities companies in Malaysia. Utilising the Friedman test and F-score for validation, HD-AntMiner demonstrates superior performance in handling imbalanced datasets compared to other algorithms, as affirmed by the Friedman test. The F-score analysis highlights HD-AntMiner's excellence, achieving the highest F-score for Breast-cancer and Credit-g datasets. When applied to the Shariahcompliant dataset, HD-AntMiner is compared with Ant-Miner and validated through a t-test and F-score. The t-test results confirm HD-AntMiner's higher accuracy than Ant-Miner, while the F-score indicates superior performance across multiple years in the Shariahcompliant dataset. Although the number of rules and conditions is not statistically significant, HD-AntMiner emerges as a robust algorithm for enhancing classification accuracy in imbalanced datasets, particularly in the context of Shariah-compliant securities prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the problem of scheduling a sequence of cars to be placed on an assembly line. Stations, along the assembly line install options (e.g. air conditioning), but have limited capacities, and hence cars requiring the same options need to be distributed far enough apart. The desired separation is not always feasible, leading to an optimisation problem that minimises the violation of the ideal separation requirements. In order to solve the problem, we use a large neighbourhood search (LNS) based on mixed integer programming (MIP). The search is implemented as a sliding window, by selecting overlapping subsequences of manageable sizes, which can be solved efficiently. Our experiments show that, with LNS, substantial improvements in solution quality can be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many issues and problems in cloud computing that researchers try to solve by using different techniques. Most of the cloud challenges are NP-hard problems; therefore, many meta-heuristic techniques have been used for solving these challenges. As a famous and powerful meta-heuristic algorithm, the Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithm has been recently used for solving many challenges in the cloud. However, in spite of the ACO potency for solving optimisation problems, its application in solving cloud issues in the form of a review article has not been studied so far. Therefore, this paper provides a complete and detailed study of the different types of ACO algorithms for solving the important problems and issues in cloud computing. Also, the number of published papers for various publishers and different years is shown. In this paper, available challenges are classified into different groups, including scheduling, resource allocation, load balancing, consolidation, virtual machine placement, service composition, energy consumption, and replication. Then, some of the selected important techniques from each category by applying the selection process are presented. Besides, this study shows the comparison of the reviewed approaches and also it highlights their principal elements. Finally, it highlights the relevant open issues and some clues to explain the difficulties. The results revealed that there are still some challenges in the cloud environments that the ACO is not applied to solve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recommendation system (RS) is used to provide recommendations to users by filtering items based on given inputs. Metaheuristic algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) are known to be used in many RS to provide optimal and good recommendations. Both algorithms are designed based on nature-inspired events, where GA is designed based on the natural evolution process while ACO is based on ants’ behaviour in their natural habit. In this paper, both GA and ACO algorithms were implemented in a restaurant RS and evaluated by using the restaurant’s attributes, which was then followed by a list of recommended restaurants as the output. With the highest score of 99.64% of accuracy, GA overtakes ACO in terms of recommendation accuracy while ACO computed 67.12% lesser runtime than GA. Considering the results acquired, a new hybrid framework known as the HGA-ACO algorithm was proposed. The proposed HGA-ACO has a recommendation accuracy of 99.57% and achieved a 31.37% runtime reduction from GA. Thus, the proposed framework was observed to have improved the output accuracy of ACO and improved the processing time in GA, thus, improving the overall efficiency of the RS.

This paper presents an improved distributed ant colony optimisation algorithm for routing and spectrum assignment (RSA) on optical burst switched (OBS), flexible spectrum networks, with the spectrum continuity constraint imposed. The improved algorithm incorporates a distributed method for monitoring the congestion along the links and using this information to determine what route-spectrum combination should be selected to minimise the burst loss probability (BLP). Evaluations were performed on an optical burst switching simulator to determine the effect on BLP when a dynamic route congestion measure is considered as opposed to the use of the static route length measure. The evaluations, considering the effects of optical impairments, were made on different network topologies, with multiple spectrum widths provisioned on the network, and with different loads. The incorporation of congestion measures into the algorithm showed improvements in BLP over previous work in the range of 2–32% depending on the evaluation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have seen a rapid development in technology over the past few years, from basic mobile phones to highly advanced surveillance monitoring systems that can record and analyze video clips. The process of video capture inevitably leads to a decline in overall video recording quality. Inadequate lighting is due to either an open aperture or a slow shutter speed. Images taken in such conditions typically have poor contrast and noisy backgrounds. If the contrast in your video is off, it could be because of a malfunctioning imaging device or an untrained operator. These two outcomes are equally plausible. When recording videos, this causes a loss of the dynamic range that could have been captured. Because of this, the video may appear distorted or washed out, and some of the finer details may be lost. In order to lessen the impact of these problems on the viewer experience, contrast enhancement techniques can be used to boost the visual quality. Work presented here will take a two-pronged approach to addressing the aforementioned problems. Videos can be compressed and their contrast can be increased, both of which are useful techniques that complement one another. Video quality can be improved with the help of a method called ant colony optimisation ACO based image quality enhancement. The frames of a video can be analyzed in greater detail using this hybrid method than with the conventional method. The noise is further reduced when the non-divisible median filter is used. To do this, the study develops an optimisation to attain increased rate of peak signal to noise rate than the other existing methods. After examining available options, the researchers settled on the DLACDHE procedure as the best option. Based on the results, it is reasonable to infer that the proposed strategy offers better contrast enhancement than the conventional methods.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are projected to have a wide range of applications in the future. The fundamental problem with WSN is that it has a finite lifespan. Clustering a network is a common strategy for increasing the lifetime of WSNs and, as a result, allowing for faster data transmission. The clustering algorithm’s goal is to select the best cluster head (CH). In the existing system, Hybrid grey wolf sunflower optimization algorithm (HGWSFO)and optimal cluster head selection method is used. It does not provide better competence and output in the network. Therefore, the proposed Hybrid Grey Wolf Ant Colony Optimisation (HGWACO) algorithm is used for reducing the energy utilization and enhances the lifespan of the network. Black hole method is used for selecting the cluster heads (CHs). The ant colony optimization (ACO) technique is used to find the route among origin CH and destination. The open cache of nodes, transmission power, and proximity are used to improve the CH selection. The grey wolf optimisation (GWO) technique is the most recent and well-known optimiser module which deals with grey wolves’ hunting activity (GWs). These GWs have the ability to track down and encircle food. The GWO method was inspired by this hunting habit. The proposed HGWACO improves the duration of the network, minimizes the power consumption, also it works with the large-scale networks.The HGWACO method achieves 25.64% of residual energy, 25.64% of alive nodes, 40.65% of dead nodes also it enhances the lifetime of the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Partial discharge (PD) signals are an important index to evaluate the operation state of intelligent substations. The correct distinction of PD pulse and interference pulse has become a challenging task. Because of the noise and the low signal‐to‐noise ratio, the stable signals become non‐stationary. The selection of a wavelet basis, the selection rule of threshold λ and the design of the threshold function are the key factors affecting the final denoising effect. Therefore, an enhanced ant colony optimisition wavelet (ACOW) algorithm was applied to find the global optimal threshold through the continuous derivative threshold function and the ant colony optimisation (ACO) algorithm. At the same time the efficiency of adaptive search calculation, was also significantly improved. The method of the ACOW algorithm was compared with the soft wavelet method, gradient‐based wavelet method and the genetic optimisation wavelet (GOW) method. Using these four methods to denoise four typical signals, different mean square errors (MSE), magnitude errors (ME) and time costs were obtained. Interestingly, the results show that the ACOW method can achieve the minimum MSE and has less time cost. It generates significantly smaller waveform distortion than the other three threshold estimation methods. In addition, the high efficiency and good quality of the output signals are beneficial to the diagnosis of local discharge signals in intelligent substations.

Pembangkit listrik tenaga surya pada umumnya tidak dapat bekerja pada daya maksimum dengan sendirinnya, karakteristik tegangan PV pada umumnya mengikuti tegangan batarai atau beban yang terhubung langsung ke PV. Intensitas cahaya yang diterima oleh modul-modul PV pasti tidak semuanya mendapatkan iradiasi yang seragam, sehingga daya yang dihasilkan tidak optimal dan menimbulkan multi-peak. Untuk mengoptimalkan daya dari PV diperlukan sistem Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). Namun metode yang sering digunakan masih sering terjebak dalam local peak dan waktu konvergen yang lama. jurnal ini membandingkan performa pelacakan dan waktu pelacakan menggunakan 2 metode, yaitu Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) dan Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Hasil percobaan menunjukkan algoritma ACO mempunyai efisiensi rata-rata keseluruhan yang lebih unggul 1,58% dari PSO, namun algoritma ACO lebih lambat dalam pelacakanya.

Abstract Ant colony optimisation (ACO) is a commonly used meta‐heuristic to solve complex combinatorial optimisation problems like the travelling salesman problem (TSP), vehicle routing problem (VRP) etc. However, classical ACO algorithms provide better optimal solutions but do not reduce computation time overhead to a significant extent. Algorithmic speed‐up can be achieved by using parallelism offered by quantum computing. Existing quantum algorithms to solve ACO are either quantum‐inspired classical algorithms or hybrid quantum‐classical algorithms. Since all these algorithms need the intervention of classical computing, leveraging the true potential of quantum computing on real quantum hardware remains a challenge. This study's main contribution is to propose a fully quantum algorithm to solve ACO, enhancing the quantum information processing toolbox in the fault‐tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) era. We have solved the single source single destination (SSSD) shortest‐path problem using our proposed adaptive quantum circuit for representing the dynamic pheromone‐updating strategy in real IBMQ devices. Our quantum ACO technique can be further used as a quantum ORACLE to solve complex optimisation problems in a fully quantum setup with significant speed up upon the availability of more qubits.

Abstract The human inner perception is the core technology for human‐robot interactions. Emotion recognition has been established as a representative study for recognising the internal state of human beings in addition to research regarding intention recognition. In the study of emotion recognition using EEG signals, emotion evaluation is categorised into two methods: discrete emotion and continuous emotion. This study proposes an ant colony optimisation‐bidirectional LSTM network model. Unlike other LSTM network models, this model improves performance by applying more weight values that are valid for emotion recognition in the current LSTM cell state using past and future biosignal information and combining ACO to find the optimal combination of emotion recognition features among many features. Furthermore, it extracts valid features using peripheral nervous system signals PPG, GSR, and EOG as well as the central nervous system signals EEG, simultaneously. The authors reinforce feature performance by adding brain lateralisation for emotion recognition. Emotion label data were recorded by performing annotation labelling, in which the values are between −100 and 100 in the arousal‐valence domain. The experimental result shows that the ACO‐bidirectional LSTM model using brain lateralisation in the MAHNOB‐HCI, DEAP, MERTI‐Apps database yields the best valence performance, RMSE of 0.0442, 0.0523, and 0.0568, respectively.

The aim of this work is to investigate the simplifica-tion of public transport networks (PTNs) for megacities and the optimisation of route planning based on the de-mand density of complex networks. A node deletion rule for network centre areas and a node merging rule for net-work border areas in the PTN are designed using the de-mand density of complex networks. A transit route plan-ning (TRP) model is established, which considers the demands of direct passengers, transfer passengers at the same stop and transfer passengers at different stops, and aims at maximising the transit demand density of a PTN. An optimisation process for TRP is developed based on the ant colony optimisation (ACO). The proposed method was validated through a sample application in Handan City in China. The results indicate that urban PTNs can be simplified while retaining their local attributes to a great extent. The hierarchical structure of the network is more obvious, and the layer-by-layer planning of routes can be effectively used in TRP. Moreover, the operating efficiency and service level of urban PTNs can be en-hanced effectively.

The optimisation problems related to the assignment of tasks to workstations in assembly and disassembly lines have been largely discussed in the literature. They are known, respectively, as Assembly Line Balancing and Disassembly Line Balancing Problems. In this study, both types of task performed on the identical product are integrated in a common hybrid production system. Therefore, the logistic process is simplified and disassembly tasks can supply easier the assembly tasks with the required components. The considered production system has the layout of two parallel lines with common workstations. The product flow is conventional in the assembly line and reverse in the disassembly line. The paper provides a new mathematical model for designing such a hybrid system and an approximate approach based on ant colony optimisation for solving large-scale instances. The solution method is tested in a case study. The obtained results are compared with the solution provided by the design of two independent lines. The analysis of the results highlights the potential benefits of the hybrid production system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roughing tool path of panel machining, which is a bottleneck of spacecraft production, should be optimised rapidly to shorten process time. This problem has a large solution space, and surface quality should be taken into account. The decision variables are cavity machining order, feed point and cutting direction of each cavity. Our problem is presented as an asymmetric general travelling salesman problem (AGTSP). A cluster optimisation-based hybrid max-tmin ant system (CO-HMMAS) is proposed, which solves two sub-problems as a whole. The oriented pheromone and dynamic heuristic information calculating methods are designed. We analyse the differences between one-stage and two-stage AGTSP local search heuristics and combine CO-HMMAS with them properly. An improved Global 3-opt heuristic suitable for both symmetric and asymmetric cases is proposed with sharply reduced time complexity. Comparison experiments verified that, two-stage local search heuristics decrease solution error significantly and rapidly when the error is great, and one-stage ones improve a near-optimal solution costing much more computing time. Benchmarks tests show that, CO-HMMAS outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithm on several technical indexes. Experiments on typical panels reveal that all algorithm improvements are effective, and CO-HMMAS can obtain a better tool path than the best algorithm within less CPU time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data stream mining has recently emerged in response to the rapidly increasing continuous data generation. While the majority of Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) rule induction algorithms have proved to be successful in producing both accurate and comprehensive classification models in nonstreaming (batch) settings, currently ACObased algorithms for classification problems are not suited to be applied to data stream mining. One of the main challenges is the iterative nature of ACO algorithms, where many procedures--for example, heuristic calculation, selection of continuous attributes, pruning--require multiple passes through the data to create a model. In this paper, we present a new ACO-based algorithm for data stream classification. The proposed algorithm, called Stream Ant-Miner (sAnt-Miner), uses a novel hybrid pheromone model combining both a traditional construction graph and solution archives models to efficiently handle a large number of mixed-type (nominal and continuous) attributes directly without the need for additional procedures, reducing the computational time required to complete an iteration of the algorithm. Our results show that sAnt-Miner produces statistically significant concise models compared with state-of-the-art rule induction data stream algorithms, without negative effects on their predictive accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The convoy movement problem (CMP) is a routing and scheduling problem for military convoys across a network where encounters of vehicles in the network are restricted and the movements of vehicles must occur within given time windows. This problem finds applications in many real-world problems such as scheduling and routing freight trains along a single line network, scheduling aircraft landings on runways, routing of automated guided vehicles in an FMS environment, handling baggage along a common automated conveyor belt system. The CMP is known to be hard computationally. Therefore, heuristic algorithms are the key to obtain quick and reliable solutions. This paper proposes a novel hybridised ant colony algorithm that combines a local search procedure with the ant colony optimisation to solve large and dense instances of the problem. We generate a new dataset which includes small to large instances with a wide range of arc densities to simulate real-world instances. We run a comprehensive computational experiment on our generated dataset to examine the efficiency of our approach. Our experiments show that our approach well handles large and dense instances with reasonably fine solutions. Furthermore, we show the importance of using a good seed solution for initialisation of the algorithm. We analyse the convergence of the algorithm for this seed solution and hybridising the ant colony algorithm with a local search procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have seen a rapid development in technology over the past few years, from basic mobile phones to highly advanced surveillance monitoring systems that can record and analyze video clips. The process of video capture inevitably leads to a decline in overall video recording quality. Inadequate lighting is due to either an open aperture or a slow shutter speed. Images taken in such conditions typically have poor contrast and noisy backgrounds. If the contrast in your video is off, it could be because of a malfunctioning imaging device or an untrained operator. These two outcomes are equally plausible. When recording videos, this causes a loss of the dynamic range that could have been captured. Because of this, the video may appear distorted or washed out, and some of the finer details may be lost. In order to lessen the impact of these problems on the viewer experience, contrast enhancement techniques can be used to boost the visual quality. Work presented here will take a two-pronged approach to addressing the aforementioned problems. Videos can be compressed and their contrast can be increased, both of which are useful techniques that complement one another. Video quality can be improved with the help of a method called ant colony optimisation ACO based image quality enhancement. The frames of a video can be analyzed in greater detail using this hybrid method than with the conventional method. The noise is further reduced when the non-divisible median filter is used. To do this, the study develops an optimisation to attain increased rate of peak signal to noise rate than the other existing methods. After examining available options, the researchers settled on the DLACDHE procedure as the best option. Based on the results, it is reasonable to infer that the proposed strategy offers better contrast enhancement than the conventional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real-world manufacturing, disruptions are often encountered during the execution of a predetermined schedule, leading to the degradation of its optimality and feasibility. This study presents a hybrid approach for flexible job-shop scheduling/rescheduling problems under dynamic environment. The approach, coined as ‘HMA’ is a combination of multi-agent system (MAS) negotiation and ant colony optimisation (ACO). A fully distributed MAS structure has been constructed to support the solution-finding process by negotiation among the agents. The features of ACO are introduced into the negotiation mechanism in order to improve the performance of the schedule. Experimental studies have been carried out to evaluate the performance of the approach for scheduling and rescheduling under different types of disruptions. Different rescheduling policies are compared and discussed. The results have shown that the proposed approach is a competitive method for flexible job-shop scheduling/rescheduling for both schedule optimality and computation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The idea of non-hierarchical production networks consisting of autonomous enterprises has been present in scientific community for more than 20 years. Although some global corporations are using their own production networks across continents, they are not similar to the original idea of non-hierarchical production networks in many aspects. It seems that this idea waited for production systems to acquire proper information and communications technology (ICT) or new industrial platforms, like Industry 4.0. The result is a new type of production network called Cyber-Physical Production Network (CPPN). The CPPN is, from ICT point of view, ready to act as non-hierarchical production networks consisting of autonomous production systems with many automated processes. One of the most important processes of the CPPN is a selection of optimal partners (enterprises) to be part of a new virtual enterprise, created inside production network. An optimisation problem emerges in this process, and it is called Partner Selection Problem (PSP). It is non-polynomial-hard combinatorial problem. Since metaheuristic algorithms are well-proven in solving that kind of problem, a specially designed metaheuristic algorithm derived from ant colony optimisation and named the HUMANT (HUManoid ANT) algorithm is used in this paper. It is multi-objective optimisation algorithm that successfully solves different instances of PSP with two, three, four or more objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Order picking is the core of warehouse operations and considerable researches have been conducted on improving its efficiency. In this paper, we aim at the joint optimisation of order batching and picker routing based on a famous and typical online retailer of China, which mainly focuses on fast-moving consumer goods. An integer programming is formulated to minimise the total travelling distance involving with order batching and picker routing. In the stage of order batching, an effective batching procedure based on similarity coefficient which is measured by overlapping channels between orders is proposed. In the stage of picker routing, an improved ant colony optimisation algorithm with local search is proposed. Based on those simulated orders generated by actual transaction data, numerical experiments are conducted to verify the performance of the algorithm we proposed. Results show that the proposed joint optimisation algorithm has potential advantages under various order sizes and order structures, which implies that it is effective and efficient particularly in the online retailing of fast-moving consumer goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Braking energy recovery is one of the main technologies affecting the economic performance of an electric vehicle. To improve economy from as much recovered braking energy as possible on the premise of ensuring vehicle security is the goal of regenerative braking control strategy. However, due to the non-linear and multi-objective characteristics of hybrid braking system, finding the optimal regenerative braking control strategy, considering safety, economy, and comfort, remains a challenge. Considering the efficient characteristics of regenerative braking system and battery aging, a swarm intelligence-based predictive regenerative braking control strategy is proposed. Particle swarm optimisation is used as the main part of the strategy, the ant colony algorithm is used to modify the iterative process of particle swarm optimisation to avoid convergence to a locally optimal solution, and model predictive control theory is applied in the control strategy to realise the optimal control. Then, under emergency braking conditions and urban cycling conditions, the stability and economy of proposed strategy are test by the simulation experiments. Finally, to reduce the computational complexity of the control strategy, an equivalent control strategy is proposed based on the nearest point method, and its effectiveness is verified by hardware-in-loop experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human inner perception is the core technology for human‐robot interactions. Emotion recognition has been established as a representative study for recognising the internal state of human beings in addition to research regarding intention recognition. In the study of emotion recognition using EEG signals, emotion evaluation is categorised into two methods: discrete emotion and continuous emotion. This study proposes an ant colony optimisation‐bidirectional LSTM network model. Unlike other LSTM network models, this model improves performance by applying more weight values that are valid for emotion recognition in the current LSTM cell state using past and future biosignal information and combining ACO to find the optimal combination of emotion recognition features among many features. Furthermore, it extracts valid features using peripheral nervous system signals PPG, GSR, and EOG as well as the central nervous system signals EEG, simultaneously. The authors reinforce feature performance by adding brain lateralisation for emotion recognition. Emotion label data were recorded by performing annotation labelling, in which the values are between −100 and 100 in the arousal‐valence domain. The experimental result shows that the ACO‐bidirectional LSTM model using brain lateralisation in the MAHNOB‐HCI, DEAP, MERTI‐Apps database yields the best valence performance, RMSE of 0.0442, 0.0523, and 0.0568, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage of dedicated short‐range communication, vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) significantly increases the security of stakeholders and improves the efficacy of the intelligent transportation system. It supports multifarious applications to make transportation convenient through routing of the messages. Changing the topological scenario, high acceleration of vehicles and intermittent communication result in the reduction of successful packet transmission and overhead. To overcome such constraints, a new routing protocol for the city environment named ant colony optimisation and intersection‐based routing (ACO–IBR) is proposed. The key objective is to identify the necessity of intersection oriented routing and selection of the route as a task of optimisation. It uses a new metric called intersection rating and a greedy approach to forward a packet through the intersection to minimise the time required to discover the route. The efforts have been made to calculate intersection rating using three parameters such as the distance between vehicles, travel direction and the time taken to reach the intersection. The performance of ACO–IBR is determined by overhead, packet delivery ratio, delay and throughput. The results are compared with the standard protocols such as greedy perimeter stateless routing, intersection‐based routing, AntHocNet and zone routing protocol. On the basis of extensive simulation, experimental results show that the ACO–IBR minimises routing overhead and improves the packet delivery ratio.

The continuous evolution of manufacturing environments leads to a more efficient production process that controls an increasing number of parameters. Production resources usually represent an important constraint in a manufacturing activity, specially talking about the management of human resources and their skills. In order to study the impact of this subject, this paper considers an open shop scheduling problem based on a mechanical production workshop to minimise the total flow time including a multi-skill resource constraint. Then, we count with a number of workers that have a versatility to carry out different tasks, and according to their assignment a schedule is generated. In that way, we have formulated the problem as a linear as and a non-linear mathematical model which applies the classic scheduling constraints, adding some different resources constraints related to personnel staff competences and their availability to execute one task. In addition, we introduce a genetic algorithm and an ant colony optimisation (ACO) method to solve large size problems. Finally, the best method (ACO) has been used to solve a real industrial case that is presented at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In job-shop scheduling, the importance of set-up issues is well known and has been considered in many solution approaches. However, in integrated process planning and scheduling (IPPS) involving flexible process plans, the set-up times are often ignored, or absorbed into processing times in IPPS domain, with the purpose to reduce the complexity. This is based on the assumption that set-up times are sequence-independent, or short enough to be ignored compared to processing times. However, it is not uncommon to encounter sequence-dependent set-up times (SDSTs) in practical production. This paper conducts a detailed investigation on the impact of SDSTs on the practical performance of the schedule: a comparative study is made for different cases where set-up times are (1) separately considered, (2) absorbed into processing times, or (3) totally ignored. An enhanced version of ant colony optimisation (E-ACO) algorithm is used to solve the IPPS problem, with the objective to minimise the total makespan. The following four types of set-up issues are considered: part loading/unloading, fixture preparation, tool switching and material transportation. Situations with various set-up time lengths have been studied and compared. A special case of IPPS problem involving a large number of identical jobs has been specifically studied and discussed. The results have shown that, set-up times should be carefully dealt with under different circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on underwater acoustic sensor networks has become a compelling field in recent years since resources on land are being depleted. Therefore, robust and efficient routing protocols are needed to ensure the reliability of message gathering and transmitting in underwater sensor networks. In the process of biological foraging in nature, creatures such as insects can find paths while adapting to dynamic environmental conditions through group cooperation, which provides a new perspective for research on routing protocols. In this study, the authors proposed an ant colony algorithm‐based routing protocol (ACAR). In ACAR, the pheromone with a novel physical meaning and concentration changing mechanism is utilised to guide ants (path establishing packets) to the sink node. In addition, node depth information is used to decrease redundancy in the underwater environment. The routing process can be summarised in three parts: pheromone list setup, routing decision and damaged path repair. Simulation results, carried out on an underwater simulator based on NS‐2, showed that ACAR outperforms other schemes with regards to network lifetime with a relatively better delivery ratio and latency in the proposed network scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water level prediction is vital in developing a sustainable conceptual design of water infrastructures, providing flood and drought control measures, etc. However, due to the complexity and many other inter-related influencing factors within a catchment, water level prediction remains a challenging task. A reliable method that is able to extract the non-linear behaviors of various parameters effectively, and thus enhances the modelling capability in terms of computation time and accuracy is required. Therefore, the Dongting Lake of China, a large-scale river–lake system has been selected for this study. The main aim is to provide a practical method for advanced water level prediction at the downstream outlet of Dongting Lake for flood warning purposes. The novelty of this study is the adoption of a soft computing modelling approach, based on minimum input requirements to reduce its dependency on too many inputs which might limit its functionality in the future. The results obtained show that the model developed can predict the hourly water level in Dongting Lake accurately with an error of 1.2%. It is able to provide an advanced water level prediction of 21 h ahead of the time step, and thus applicable for early flood warning to the surrounding area with densely populated townships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing ant colony algorithms only have one kind of pheromone. They use non-dominated solutions to update it while not making use of dominated solutions, which can provide valuable information for guiding the subsequent foraging process. To make full use of dominated solutions, we create a new kind of pheromone temporarily called a negative pheromone and propose a new ant colony optimisation algorithm called NMOACO/D, which combines MOEA/D-ACO with the negative pheromone. Many experiments have been carried out in this study to compare NMOACO/D with MOEA/D-ACO and other algorithms on several bi-objective travelling salesman problems. We demonstrate that NMOACO/D outperforms the MOEA/D-ACO and six different recently proposed related algorithms on all nine test instances. We also evaluate the effect of negative pheromone on the performance of the NMOACO/D. The results in this paper show that correctly making use of the information related to dominated solutions can further improve the ant colony algorithm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-digestion is a well-established strategy to maximise the capacity of anaerobic digestion in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Many tools have been developed to optimise the blend composition. However, the logistics associated with each component of the blend remain a relatively unexplored field, which can yield significant planning challenges. In this paper, an ant colony optimisation based approach is proposed to address these challenges. The proposed algorithm maximises an objective function composed of a first term related to the quality of the sludge and a second term related to the distance between the sludge generator and the anaerobic co-digester. The algorithm successfully optimises the blend composition by considering the related logistics, achieving an optimum blend with an approximately 18% volume of co-substrate. The approach presented here has been used to plan co-digestion using real data from an actual sanitation network composed of 13 WWTPs in the area of the Besòs river basin in Catalonia, and an optimised co-digestion planning strategy with a waste management cost reduction of 77% was obtained. • Logistics of anaerobic digestion blend optimisation remain as an unexplored field. • A novel ACO algorithm is developed to optimise logistics and quality factors. • A sanitation system of 13 WWTPs and 7 industrial waste generators is studied. • ACO-based approach allows for effective co-digestion strategies and optimisation. • A new waste management plan is designed expecting a 77% cost reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass personalisation is characterised by unpredicted changes in product design and manufacturing processes, as a result of customers' ability to co-create and co-design products based on personal preferences. Previous approaches that address such unpredicted changes rely on heterarchical control structures and require changes in manufacturing systems' layout. However, in mass personalisation context, the notion of planning before production is redundant, hence requirement for layout reconfiguration is frequent and at such short intervals that present systems are unsuitable. This paper seeks to deliver distinct production mechanisms which react to the frequent requirement for layout changes, inspired by naturally occurring self-organising systems with stigmergic self-organising mechanisms. These systems lack initial structural organisation, and structure only emerges through reinforcement of local interactions with the environment without the need for planning, centralised control, direct communication and simultaneous presence. Therefore, a manufacturing system for mass personalisation with mobile production resources, heterarchical control architecture, and a stigmergic control mechanism is proposed. Simulation is developed using realistic shoe personalisation scenario, which demonstrates the system's capability to produce personalised shoes and automatically reconfigure the layout of its production resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime crude oil transportation problem have been drawing the attention of researchers for quite a long time. The cost incurred in the supply chain for the oil products is one of the biggest driving factors for these researchers. In the present paper, we have addressed the problem faced by the logistics section of the petroleum downstream industry. This industry mainly deals with the transportation of finished oil products like fuel oil, high speed diesel, etc. from refineries to the demand points. For this purpose, we have developed a mathematical model to represent the problem appropriately, aiming at total cost minimisation as well as service-level maximisation. The problem in hand is then tackled with a modified Multi-objective Ant Colony optimisation algorithm which besides considering more than one pheromone structure also involves non-dominated sorting of the results to give us the best-performing solution fronts. For the purpose of dealing with the uncertainties causing docking problems at a port, we have incorporated a second stage of route allocation for the vessels. Towards the end, we have carried out a sensitivity analysis for the parameters of the ant colony algorithm to get the combination of parameters for which this new type of algorithm performs best. The comparison of obtained results with one of the other contemporary algorithms also establishes the superiority of our heuristic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we investigate a transfer line balancing problem in order to find the line configuration that minimises the non-productive time. The problem is defined at an auto manufacturing company where the cylinder head is manufactured. Technological restrictions among design features and manufacturing operations are taken into consideration. The problem is represented by an integer programming model that assigns design features and cutting tools to machining stations, and specifies the number of machines and production sequence in each station. Three algorithms are developed to efficiently solve the problem under study. The first algorithm uses Benders decomposition approach that decomposes the proposed model into an assignment problem and a sequencing problem. The second algorithm is a hybrid algorithm that mixes Benders decomposition approach with the ant colony optimisation technique. The third algorithm solves the problem using two nested ant colonies. Using 15 different problem dimensions, we compare results of the three algorithms in a computational study. The first algorithm finds optimal solutions of small problem instances only. Second and third algorithms demonstrate optimality gaps less than 4.04 and 3.8%, respectively, when compared to the optimal results given by the first algorithm. Moreover, the second and third algorithms are very promising in solving medium and large-scale problem instances. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Synchronisation in vehicle routing is a rather new field of research and naturally new problems arise. One of these problems is the Line-haul Feeder Vehicle Routing Problem (LFVRP). It uses a fleet of small and large vehicles to serve two types of customers. The first type provides additional parking space and can be visited by both vehicle classes. The second type can only be visited by the small vehicle class as these customers provide only limited parking space. The main characteristic of the small vehicle class is the limited capacity. To overcome this particular disadvantage, the small vehicles can use the large vehicles as virtual depots. In other words, a small and large vehicle can meet at a parking lot or at a customer with enough space (type-1 customer) and perform a transfer of goods. For a successful reloading operation, both vehicles must be present at the same place at the same time. Thus, both vehicle tours must be synchronized. After using the large vehicle as virtual depot, the small vehicle can proceed immediately afterwards because it does not need to go back to the physical depot. Consequently, less time and distance is required which results in a reduction of the overall costs. The advantage of the LFVRP over classical variants of the Vehicle Routing Problem has been shown in previous papers. Yet, customer time windows have been neglected so far and as time windows play an important role in vehicle routing research, they need to be addressed properly. Therefore, we aim to close this gap by introducing the Line-haul Feeder Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (LFVRPTW). We discuss the complexity of customer time windows for the LFVRPTW and adopt the previously introduced algorithm for the LFVRP. Furthermore, we provide a thorough computational analysis on the impact of different time window characteristics and show the advantage of the LFVRPTW over other variants of the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production and maintenance tasks apply for access to the same resources. Maintenance-related machine downtime reduces productivity, but the costs incurred due to unplanned machine failures often outweigh the costs associated with predictive maintenance. Costs incurred due to unplanned machine failure include corrective maintenance, reworks, delays in deliveries, breaks in the work of employees and machines. Therefore, scheduling of production and maintenance tasks should be considered jointly. The problem of generating a predictive schedule with given constrains is considered. The objective of the paper is to develop a scheduling method that reflects the operation of the production system and nature of disturbances. The original value of the paper is the development of the method of a basic schedule generation with the application of the Ant Colony Optimisation. A predictive schedule is built by planning the technical inspection of the machine at time of the predicted failure-free time. The numerical simulations are performed for job/flow shop systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article a new version of the ant colony optimisation algorithm with a desirability function for the triple matching problem is described. The problem is modelled by means of two 2-dimensional arrays. The new version of the ant algorithm was compared with the previous version of the ant algorithm and tested for different values of ant algorithm parameters; the results of these tests are presented and discussed.

Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithms emulate the foraging behaviour of ants to solve optimisation problems. They have proven effective in both academic and industrial settings. ACO algorithms share many features among them. Isula encapsulates these commonalities and exposes them for reuse in the form of a Java library. In this paper, we use the travelling salesman problem and image segmentation to showcase the framework capabilities using three top-performing ACO algorithms implemented in Isula. This framework is an open-source project available at GitHub, where is currently the most popular ACO java repository.

Anaerobic digestion (AnD) is a process that allows the conversion of organic waste into a source of energy such as biogas, introducing sustainability and circular economy in waste treatment. AnD is an intricate process because of multiple parameters involved, and its complexity increases when the wastes are from different types of generators. In this case, a key point to achieve good performance is optimisation methods. Currently, many tools have been developed to optimise a single AnD plant. However, the study of a network of AnD plants and multiple waste generators, all in different locations, remains unexplored. This novel approach requires the use of optimisation methodologies with the capacity to deal with a highly complex combinatorial problem. This paper proposes and compares the use of three evolutionary algorithms: ant colony optimisation (ACO), genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimisation (PSO), which are especially suited for this type of application. The algorithms successfully solve the problem, using an objective function that includes terms related to quality and logistics. Their application to a real case study in Catalonia (Spain) shows their usefulness (ACO and GA to achieve maximum biogas production and PSO for safer operation conditions) for AnD facilities.