ACS (Ant Colony System)

Ant Colony System (ACS) is an optimization algorithm inspired by how real ants find the shortest path to food. In ACS, numerous virtual ants explore possible solutions to a problem, leaving behind digital “pheromones” that indicate promising routes. Over time, routes with stronger pheromone trails attract more ants, reinforcing good solutions and gradually guiding the system toward the best or near-best answer. This method is useful for complex problems like route planning, scheduling, and network optimization, effectively balancing exploration of new options with exploitation of known good solutions.