An Educational Tool for the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

Researches in the ant colony optimization algorithm has been expanding rapidly both in academia and industry. The correlated courses have been offered at many universities. However, the teaching methods for the algorithm are not sufficient. This paper proposes an experimental tool for the teaching of the ant colony optimization algorithm. The traveling salesman problem is conducted as the application of the tool. In this context, the tool is developed with friendly graphical user interfaces for teaching the algorithms. Graduate students at Nanjing Agricultural University can use this tool to learn the ant colony algorithm. Experiments for the optimal design can be conducted by students through the manipulation of the parameters.