Christodoulou, S (2005) Construction scheduling with artificial agents and the ant colony optimization metaheuristic. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 21st Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2005, London, UK.
Abstract
The research outlined in this paper aims the development of a methodology to arrive at critical path calculations in construction networks using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms. Ant Colony Optimization is a population-based, artificial multi-agent, general-search technique for the solution of difficult combinatorial problems. The method's theoretical roots are based on the behaviour of real ant colonies and the collective trail-laying and trail-following of its members in searching for optimal solutions in traversing multiple paths. In essence, ACO is inspired by the foraging behaviour of natural ant colonies which optimize their path from an origin (ant nest) to a destination (food source) by taking advantage of knowledge acquired by other ants that previously traversed the possible paths. In computer implementations of the ACO algorithms, artificial ants are both agents and solution-construction procedures that stochastically build solutions by considering (1) artificial pheromone trails which change dynamically at run time to reflect the agents' acquired search experience, and (2) heuristic information on the problem/network being solved. The paper outlines the fundamental mathematical background of the ACO method and a suggested possible implementation strategy for solving for longest (critical) paths in construction schedule networks.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ant colony optimization; construction scheduling; critical path |
| Index terms: | agent, implementation, methodology, population, ant colony optimization, critical path, strategy, heuristic, construction scheduling |
| Subjects: | decision-making and optimization, demography, project controls, management, research methods, contractual arrangements, operations research, practitioner, risk assessment |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Risk Management, Procurement, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Time Control, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here