Pheromone Values Research Articles

Improved ant colony optimization algorithm based on islands type for mobile robot path planning

According to the characteristics of ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm in mobile robot path planning, such as local optimal solution, slow convergence speed, low search efficiency, and propensity to produce numerous deadlock ants, an improved ACO algorithm based on island type (insular ACO (INACO)) is introduced. In this algorithm, firstly, several islands are established between the starting and the ending position of environment, serving as intermediate nodes for the paths searched by the ants. This greatly reduces the number of deadlock ants. Additionally, rectangular areas are initialized with non-uniform pheromone levels between adjacent islands, while other areas are set to a constant minimum pheromone value. This prevents blind searches during the initial stages of path planning. Furthermore, an adaptive volatilization coefficient is introduced into the global pheromone update rules to balance the convergence and global search ability. Finally, optimal parameter combinations of INACO are determined by simulation. INACO algorithm is simulated in various grid maps and compared with other improved ACO algorithms. Results demonstrate its superior global optimal search capability and rapid convergence speed. The average iterative times is 2.7 in a 20 × 20 grid environment and 4.7 in a 30 × 30 grid environment. Notably, INACO produces very few lost ants, with mean values of 50.1 and 95.2 in 20 × 20 and 30 × 30 grid environments, respectively.

Formation of individual educational trajectory of university student based on modified ant colony optimization algorithm

Individual educational trajectory allows to provide each learner with a sequence of learning materials in accordance with their pace, learning style and existing gaps in knowledge. Under the conditions of education digitalization, there is an opportunity to use modern ways to improve learning quality to create an individual educational trajectory. The article presents a model of learning content adaptation which contains an algorithm for building an individual educational trajectory based on a modified ant colony optimization algorithm that provides a personalized selection of a sequence of educational materials. The model of learning content adaptation is illustrated on the example of learning SQL within the framework of the course “Databases”. The proposed modification of the ant colony optimization algorithm allows to increase in the efficiency of competence formation in the course of academic disciplines which have a significant duration and consist of loosely related modules by assigning each student to the most appropriate subgroup in accordance with the chosen professional role and organizing full­fledged repetition throughout the discipline. It is proposed to use the desired qualification level of mastering the SQL (basic or professional) or the direction of training (specialty) as specifiers of student groups. The repetition of the basics of problem solving in the process of studying the discipline is proposed to be performed based on pheromone values determined by the ant colony optimization algorithm. The calculating formula for these values provides a high probability of redirecting the student to the solution of problems from the list for repetition when exceeding the permissible number of taken hints or attempts to solve.

Multi-Label Feature Selection with Graph-based Ant Colony Optimization and Generalized Jaccard Similarity

Multi-label learning is a technique that assigns multiple class labels to each data instance. The growth of digital technology resulted in the development of high-dimensional applications in real-world scenarios. Feature selection approaches are extensively used to reduce dimensionality in multi-label learning. The main problems of the recommender system are determining the best match of futures among users but have not engaged with previously. This paper proposes a strategy for selecting features using ant colony optimization (ACO) that incorporates mutual knowledge. The proposed method utilizes ACO to rank features based on their significance. Thus, the search space is mapped to a graph, and each ant traverses the graph, selecting a predetermined number of features. A new information-theoretical metric is introduced to evaluate the features chosen by each ant. Jaccard generalized similarity coefficient is used to select the most suitable communication target for efficient learning outcomes. Mutual information is employed to assess each features relevance to a set of labels and identify redundant features. Pheromones are assigned values based on the effectiveness of the ants in solving the problem. Finally, the features are ranked based on their pheromone values, and the top-ranked features are selected as the final set of attributes. The proposed method is evaluated using real-world datasets. The findings demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms most of existing and advanced approaches. This paper presents a novel feature selection approach for multi-label learning based on ACO. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method compared to existing techniques.

Analyze the Impact of Mobility and Pause Time on ACO based Manet Routing Protocols - Review

Abstract: Recently, many researchers have studied its performance within Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs). Every ad hoc network protocol focuses on a different set of measurements and traits. The majority of the currently utilized mobility models are employed to provide realistic movement patterns for MANET scenarios. A crucial element in the creation of MANET protocols is simulation. The future topology of a network can be predicted, which enables Quality of service- aware routing to choose a dependable link for data transmission. Ant algorithms, also known as swarm intelligence, are a wider field of study that deals with algorithmic approaches that are motivated by the behaviour of ant colonies and other insects. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a subset of this larger topic. Based on the pheromone value deposited over the link, we identified two categories for the link quality in the proposed approach. We have demonstrated how the network's performance is enhanced by the suggested technique. The nodes are moving in the specified terrain dimensions through the Enhanced Manhattan Mobility Model (EMMM). The five QoS performance metrics are analyzed over three MANET routing protocols. The comparison is made over two important factors-mobility and pause time with the proposed ACO technique of reliable links. In the first experiment of different speeds, DSR is 25.5% better than AODV and 5.3% better than DSDVin metric packet dropping, 1.15% better than AODV and 1.01% better than DSDV in Packet Delivery Ratio, 1.5% better than AODV and 1.04% better than DSDV in packet overhead, and 62.7% better than AODV and 73.1% better than DSDV in average end-to-end delay. In the second experiment of pause times, DSR is 25.05% better than AODV and 4.5% better than DSDV in packet dropping, 1.18% better than AODV and 1.01% better than DSDV in packet delivery ratio, 1.01% better than DSDV in throughput, 0 to 0.002% in packet overhead, and 0.02% to 0.005% shorter delay.

Pheromone-guided parallel rough hypercuboid attribute reduction algorithm

In knowledge discovery and data mining, removing redundant and irrelevant data attributes is crucial. Traditional algorithms, however, struggle with efficiency in high-dimensional big data contexts. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel global search attribute reduction method namely RHC-IGWO (Rough Hypercuboid Structure via Improved Grey Wolf Optimizer) by integrating the rough hypercuboid method and Improved Grey Wolf Optimizer (IGWO) with the pheromone mechanism. The algorithm is embedded into the Apache Spark parallel computing framework (Parallel computing Rough Hypercuboid Structure via Improved Grey Wolf Optimizer, PcRHC-IGWO) to accelerate and simplify the attribute reduction process. The algorithm divides the decision table into several independent blocks, introduces the pheromone mechanism to simulate the wolf pack behavior, and uses the IGWO for global search, which is conducive to efficient local search and global information sharing between individuals. The position of the individual is initialized by calculating the relevance between the attributes, and the pheromone value is dynamically updated according to the reduction quality. This allows automatically giving more search focus to more promising attribute regions. Experiments with public and real datasets demonstrate the RHC-IGWO algorithm's significant speedup and its efficacy in maintaining or enhancing classification accuracy. Particularly noteworthy is its performance on schizophrenia datasets, where the proposed method achieves outstanding classification accuracies of 86.2%, 88.89%, and 92.86% across various classifiers. These results not only demonstrate its effectiveness but also underline its potential in advanced data analysis scenarios. Additionally, on some large-scale datasets, the time required for processing has been reduced by 85.71%, showcasing the algorithm's efficiency in handling complex and voluminous data.

Adaptation of the Ant Colony Algorithm to Avoid Congestion in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks have recently presented a promising environment for many researchers to develop large-scale wireless communication. Traffic in WMNs often suffers from congestion due to heavy traffic load’s saturation of certain routes. Therefore, this article proposes an efficient approach for congestion awareness and load balancing in WMNs, based on the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) approach. The proposed approach aims to raise the performance of the WMN by distributing the traffic load between optimal routes and avoiding severe traffic congestion. The proposed approach relies on three basic mechanisms: detection of severe congestion within the ideal paths used for data transmission, creation of ideal secondary paths with updated pheromone values, and distribution of the traffic load (data packet flow) between the primary and secondary ideal paths. According to the results of the NS2 simulator, the suggested approach increased the WMN throughput by 14.8% when compared to the CACO approach and by 37% when employing the WCETT approach. The results also showed that the proposed approach achieved an average end-to-end delay closing of 0.0562, while WCETT and CACO approaches achieved an average end-to-end delay close to 0.1021 and 0.0976, respectively. The results indicated that the proposed approach achieved a lower percentage of dropped packets by 6.97% and 0.99% compared to the WCETT and CACO approaches. Thus, the proposed approach is effective in improving the performance of WMNs.

An Adaptive Ant Colony Algorithm Based on Local Information Entropy to Solve Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems

As a meta-heuristic algorithm, the ant colony algorithm has been successfully used to solve various combinatorial optimization problems. However, the existing algorithm that takes the power of ants to solve distributed constraint optimization problems (ACO_DCOP) is easy to fall into local optima. To deal with this issue, this paper presents an adaptive ant colony algorithm based on local information entropy to solve distributed constraint optimization problems, named LIEAD. In LIEAD, the local information entropy is introduced to help agents adaptively select the pheromone update strategy and value selection strategy, which improves the convergence speed and the quality of the solution. Moreover, a restart mechanism is designed to break the accumulation state of pheromone, which increases the population diversity and helps the algorithm jump out of the local optima. The extensive experimental results indicate that LIEAD can significantly outperform ACO_DCOP and is competitive with the state-of-the-art DCOPs algorithms.

A Modified Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm with Pheromone Mutations for Dynamic Travelling Salesman Problem

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is an algorithm based on Meta-heuristics and swarm intelligence, taking inspiration from the exploring behavior of social insects like ants. Some very challenging optimization problems, like the vehicle routing problem, have been solved by Ant colony optimization. But, the Standard ACO algorithm has problems like trapping in local optimum. This paper discusses an improved version of the ACO algorithm, known as Modified ACO (M-ACO). The main motivation of the proposed algorithm is to use pheromone mutation techniques, such as swap and random, in dynamic environments, to overcome the problems of standard ACO and solve the Travelling Salesman Problem, which is a well-known NP-hard problem. Mutation allows better searching and exploring in other areas, for better results. Also, the exploitation is increased that uses local information to search local regions more intensively for finding minimum distance and increasing the rate of convergence. Evaporation-based Ant colony optimization (E-ACO) framework and population-based ant colony optimization (P-ACO) framework are the two groups into which the algorithms under study are separated. Both frameworks are evaluated on dynamic environments produced using TSPLIB base instances and updated for pheromone values using mutation technique. Experiments and Statistical tests were conducted on the TSPLIB datasets such as pr439 and lin318, in dynamic environments and on comparing ACO with M-ACO and P-ACO, better results were obtained for M-ACO and P-ACO. Metrics like offline have been considered to measure algorithm performance and behavior.

Optimal Parameter Estimation of Solar Photovoltaics Through Nature Inspired Metaheuristic and Hybrid Approaches

Estimation of solar photovoltaic (PV) equivalent model parameters through the manufacturer's datasheet or experimental performance current voltage (I-V) characteristics is an apprehension among researchers. In this paper, two approaches are instigated and compared i.e. metaheuristic pheromone value black widow optimisation (pv-BWO) and hybrid sailfish optimisation (h-SFO) for the estimation of a single-diode model (SDM) and double-diode model (DDM) parameters for the accurate solar PV modelling. Four distinct case studies that incorporate four different PV modules i.e. RTC France, PWP 201, SHARP ND-R250A5, and EIL 75W PV are investigated, where the validation of the proposed methods is carried out through the experimental performance characteristics of solar PV under test i.e. the I-V and power-voltage (P-V) performance characteristics. Moreover, the performance is evaluated on various error functions, and experimental I-V and P-V characteristics, where the results are also compared with the various techniques of parameter estimation in the literature. It is important to underline that the closeness of the objective function to zero exhibits the congruence of estimated parameters with the exact parameters, where the exact parameter value is not accessible. Therefore, the preciseness rests on the experimental data only, where any significant reduction in OF i.e. RMSE considered as an improvement towards the exactness of real unknown parameter values. The pv-BWO exhibits an average of 69.89% of lower error results when compared with few existing methods, whereas h-SFO recorded a higher RMSE of about 93% when compared with the pv-BWO which suggests the suitability of pv-BWO over h-SFO and few existing methods.

Efficient Optimal Routing Algorithm Based on Reward and Penalty for Mobile Adhoc Networks

Mobile adhoc networks have grown in prominence in recent years, and they are now utilized in a broader range of applications. The main challenges are related to routing techniques that are generally employed in them. Mobile Adhoc system management, on the other hand, requires further testing and improvements in terms of security. Traditional routing protocols, such as Adhoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), employ the hop count to calculate the distance between two nodes. The main aim of this research work is to determine the optimum method for sending packets while also extending life time of the network. It is achieved by changing the residual energy of each network node. Also, in this paper, various algorithms for optimal routing based on parameters like energy, distance, mobility, and the pheromone value are proposed. Moreover, an approach based on a reward and penalty system is given in this paper to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms under the impact of parameters. The simulation results unveil that the reward penalty-based approach is quite effective for the selection of an optimal path for routing when the algorithms are implemented under the parameters of interest, which helps in achieving less packet drop and energy consumption of the nodes along with enhancing the network efficiency.

Multi-label feature selection using density-based graph clustering and ant colony optimization

AbstractMulti-label learning is a machine learning subclass that aims to assign more than one label simultaneously for each instance. Many real-world tasks include high-dimensional data which reduces the performance of machine learning methods. To solve this issue, a filter and multi-label feature selection is proposed in this paper. The main idea of the proposed method is to choose highly relevant and non-redundant features with the lowest information loss. The proposed method first uses a novel graph-based density peaks clustering to group similar features to reach this goal. It then uses the ant colony optimization search process to rank features based on their relevancy to a set of labels and also their redundancy with the other features. A graph first represents the feature space, and then a novel density peaks clustering is used to group similar features. Then, the ants are searched through the graph to select a set of non-similar features by remaining in the clusters with a low probability and jumping among the clusters with a high probability. Moreover, in this paper, to evaluate the solutions found by the ants, a novel criterion based on mutual information was used to assign a high pheromone value to highly relevant and non-redundant features. Finally, the final features are chosen based on their pheromone values. The results of experiments on a set of real-world datasets show the superiority of the proposed method over a set of baseline and state-of-the-art methods.

3D PathPlanning of RobotFishBased on ImprovedAntColonyAlgorithm

For the following problems:three-dimensional obstacle avoidance path selection when using robot fish to find targets in a complex coral reef geographical environment, an improved ant colony algorithm that can be applied in an environment with multiple complexities is proposed. Combined with the underwater terrain, several maps with different obstacle complexities are established with the three-dimensional environment modeling scheme. Aiming at easy stagnation, slow search speed, and easiness to produce local optimization in the conventional ant colony algorithm, this paper improved the function design and helped the robot fish carry out the early search based on three pieces of heuristic information (the global distance, traffic ability cost, and path consumption cost). Then the path is sorted according to the path length to adjust the pheromone update mode. At the same time, an elite ant system is constructed to adjust the pheromone value of elite ants separately. The simulation results show that convergence speed and searchabilityof the algorithm have been improved to some extent, which proves feasibility of the algorithm.

A New Method for Spectral Wavelength Selection Based on Multiple Linear Regression Combined with Ant Colony Optimization and Genetic Algorithm

Wavelength selection is one of the key steps in quantitative spectral analysis, which reduces the computation time while also improving the prediction accuracy of the model. In this paper, we propose a wavelength selection algorithm based on the ant colony optimization (ACO), in which the absolute value of the regression coefficient of the multiple linear regression (MLR) model is used as the basis for evaluating the importance of wavelengths, and the absolute value of the regression coefficient after full wavelength MLR modeling is used as the initial pheromone value of the ant colony optimization (MLR-ACO). In each iteration, the absolute value of the regression coefficient corresponding to each wavelength of the individual with the highest fitness value is used as the basis for a pheromone update. The crossover operator is introduced in MLR-ACO (MLR-ACO-GA), and the individuals with the top 100 fitness values in MLR-ACO are used as the initial population of the genetic algorithm (GA). A selected frequency of wavelengths greater than the threshold among MLR-ACO individuals is calculated. A number of coarse interval points are generated according to the selected frequency, and a coarse crossover operation is performed at the coarse interval points. Fine crossover points are randomly generated within the coarse interval, and fine crossover operations are performed within the coarse interval to exploit the potential of combining excellent individuals in MLR-ACO with each other as much as possible. MLR-ACO can well solve the problem of traditional ACO initial pheromone scarcity, and MLR-ACO-GA can avoid MLR-ACO falling into a local optimum to a certain extent and be more flexible in the selection of the number of wavelengths, which can give full play to the advantages of MLR-ACO.

A hybrid approach of gravitational search algorithm and ant miner plus for fingerprint recognition

The gravitational search algorithm (GSA) is an eminent heuristic algorithm inspired by the laws of gravity and motion. It possesses an independent physical model in which the mass agents are guided by gravitational force to quickly achieve the convergence. Although the GSA is proven to be efficient for science and engineering problems, the mass agents can be trapped in premature convergence due to the heaviness of masses in the later iterations. The occurrence of premature convergence impedes the agents’ further exploration of the search space for a better solution. Here, the ant miner plus (AMP) variant of the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is utilized to avoid the trapping of agents in local optima. The AMP algorithm extends the exploration ability of the GSA algorithm by using the attributes of pheromone updating rules generated by best ants and a problem-dependent heuristic function. The AMP variant adheres to the attributes of the ACO algorithm and is also a decision-making variant which determines the problem solution more efficiently by constructing a directed acyclic graph, considering class-specific heuristic values, and including weight parameters for the pheromone and heuristic values. In this research, this hybridization of GSA and AMP (GSAMP) algorithms is presented, and it is utilized for the decision-making application of fingerprint recognition. Here, fingerprint recognition is conducted for complete as well as latent fingerprints, which are poor quality partial fingerprints, mostly acquired from crime scenes by law enforcement agencies. The experiments are performed for the complete fingerprint dataset of FVC2004 and the latent fingerprint dataset of NIST SD27, using the proposed GSAMP approach and the individual algorithms of Ant Miner (AM) and AMP. The experimental evaluation indicates the superiority of the proposed approach compared to other methods.

KORELASI GEJALA PENYAKIT FLU PADA ANAK BALITA DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN ALGORITMA SEMUT

Influenza is one of the most common illnesses suffered by toddlers. Knowing the symptoms that appear most quickly, parents can provide appropriate first aid to their toddlers. A graph is a field of mathematics used to find the fastest pathways in a path based on the starting point to the endpoint. The graph used is a weighted graph with weights taken from the moderate pain suffered by toddlers, in which the range of a pain scale is 0 – 10. Then, using the ant algorithm to determine the distance from symptoms that often appear. The results obtained from pheromone evaporation of the ant algorithm are Fever (P1), Headache (P2), Weakness (P7), Vomiting (P8), and Diarrhea (P9). The pheromones taken as pathways were high pheromone values P1–P2 (0.0905), P2–P7 (0.0874), P7–P8 (0.0811), and P8–P9 (0.0810). Ant algorithm can identify flu symptoms in children under five and explain the relationship between the symptoms.

Using The Hybrid GA-Ant Algorithm To Find The Optimal Path In Computer Networks

Cost management is one of the performance standards in computer networks and routing strategies through which we can get effective paths in the computer network, reach the target and perform highly in the network by improving the routing table (jumps). This paper is an attempt to propose a new H design mixed algorithm (ACO-GA) that includes the best features of both ACO and GA with a new application that combines both previous algorithms called( H- Hybrid (ACO-GA) hybrid algorithm technology, which differs in its parameters. In order to research and find the optimal path, the improved ant algorithm was used to explore the network, using smart beams, getting the paths generated by ants and then using them as inputs into the genetic algorithm in the form of arranged pairs of chromosomes. Experimental results through extensive simulations showed that H (ACO-GA) improves the routing schedule, represented by the pheromone values that ants leave when following their path in the network. The values given in the table( 3.2) vary according to the quality of the pheromone concentration. In this case, it is possible to give the greatest opportunity to choose the best quality according to the concentration of the pheromone. For this purpose, a network consisting of four nodes (1), (2), (3), (4) was used starting with node (1) which is the source node and the destination node (2), by calling the selection technique to update the pheromone table by choosing the path to node (1 ). For this case and for selecting the destination node (2), the pheromone table for the nodes visited by the ant is updated. We calculated the final destination )2) by dividing the ratio. Thus, we get to reduce the search area, speed up search time, and improve the quality of the solution by obtaining the optimum set of paths.

Path Planning of Energy Robot Based on Improved Ant Colony Algorithm

In order to optimize robot road planning, automation will increase production efficiency and reduce production costs. An improved ant colony algorithm based on a two-dimensional flat path planning study divided the three-dimensional space into planes, rasterized each plane, and replaced the original shape by storing a pheromone at the intersection. The pheromone storage space along the route will be reduced, and a three-dimensional space route planning study will be gradually conducted. As complex 3D environments and landscape features change, obstacle avoidance strategies have increased, road heuristics have improved, and new heuristic features have emerged. The initial value of the road node pheromone increases the efficiency of early ant search because of the uneven distribution of starting point, target point location information, and forward direction. After each iteration, the stuck ants that did not reach the target point are discarded according to the high-quality ant renewal rules, the iteration threshold is set, and the pheromone fluctuation coefficient is adjusted as the algorithm tends to merge. Compared with the basic ant colony algorithm, the convergence iteration times of the improved ant colony algorithm in this paper are reduced by about 40%, and the optimal path length is shortened by about 10. The duration of the algorithm increases. In terms of algorithm performance, it takes some time to improve the ant colony algorithm. Because of the complexity of the algorithm, some search strategies are added to the algorithm. The contribution of this article is the basis for the mobile robot to walk accurately from the initial position to the working position and perform various tasks independently.

A novel black widow optimization approach to improve the precision in parameter estimation problem of solar photovoltaic electrical model

AbstractMathematical modeling of solar photovoltaic (PV) cell/module or array is to assess its unknown modeling parameters with the experimental current–voltage (I–V) characteristic or from the manufacturer's datasheet, where exploitation of implicit and precise solution is a stern concern among researchers for the designing of an optimized solar PV system. Hence, in this article, a robust pheromone value black widow optimization (pv‐BWO) algorithm is proposed to estimate precise modeling parameters of equivalent solar PV single‐diode model (SDM), double‐diode model (DDM), and three‐diode model (TDM). The proposed algorithm is well investigated in coordination with three case studies that hold polycrystalline and monocrystalline PV modules. The suggested technique is validated through the analysis of I–V and power–voltage (P–V) performance characteristics that are meticulously analyzed under various environmental constraints. The first two case studies are widely investigated in the literature also, whereas, to affirm the suitability of pv‐BWO under real implementation the third case study is carried out in an experimental environment. Furthermore, the pv‐BWO method for the aforesaid case studies are validated and compared with the experimental data along with various well‐established parameter estimation techniques in literature, where the proposed method promises a more reliable, stable, and precise solution for the parameter estimation problem.

Comparison and performance analysis of pheromone value and cannibalism based black widow optimisation approaches for modelling and parameter estimation of solar photovoltaic mathematical models

Assessment of precise solar photovoltaic (PV) modelling parameters through experimental current-voltage (I-V) data or by using the manufacturer’s datasheet, is a matter of strong research interest among researchers. Where, the challenge rests in precise evaluation, control, and creation of a more reliable PV model with well optimised parameters. Pheromone Value Black Widow Optimisation (pv-BWO) and Cannibalism Black Widow Optimisation (cn-BWO), are the two proposed methodologies for detailed modelling, and the estimation of modelling parameters for the single-diode model (SDM) and double-diode model (DDM) of solar PV. Validation of the proposed techniques are observed through I-V and power-voltage (P-V) performance characteristics, of three case studies that are considered for the investigation. The RTC France and PWP 201 modules are the two cases that are extensively examined in the literature, where the experimental data is recorded for SFTI 60 P in real environmental conditions and referred to as the third case. Moreover, results of cn-BWO and pv-BWO are also compared with some well-established parameter estimation methods in the literature, where it is affirmed that pv-BWO exhibits a more reliable and precise solution for parameter estimation problem with the least cost function, whereas cn-BWO unveils high convergence speed when compared with pv-BWO.

Fractional-Order Ant Colony Algorithm: A Fractional Long Term Memory Based Cooperative Learning Approach

• The application of a novel mathematical approach, fractional calculus, to swarm intelligence is an emerging field of research which has seldom received desired attention. • We propose a novel conceptual formulation of the Fractional-Order Ant Colony Algorithm (FACA), which is a fractional long term memory based cooperative learning approach. • The application of the inherent strengths of fractional calculus to modify the transition behaviour of the classical Integer-order Ant Colony Algorithms (IACAs) by replacing the simple one-step probability by a more complex expression that seems to include some look-ahead information, which differs from most of the previous approaches and hence it presents an interesting theoretical contribution in this research domain. The present work discusses a novel conceptual formulation of the Fractional-Order Ant Colony Algorithm (FACA), which is a fractional long term memory based cooperative learning approach. In the standard Integer-order Ant Colony Algorithms (IACAs), each ant selects its next edge on the graph according to a transition probability that is obtained from the pheromone value and additional information found on the edges adjacent to its present node. To improve the optimization capability associated with traditional IACAs, we have studied here, as an interesting theoretical problem, whether it will be possible to apply the inherent strengths of fractional calculus to modify the transition behaviour of the classical IACAs by replacing the simple one-step probability by a more complex expression that seems to include some look-ahead information. The formal motivation for this expression is from the fractional derivatives where simple differences are replaced by more involved expressions. Motivated by this need, in this work, we introduce a novel algorithm called Fractional-Order Ant Colony Algorithm (FACA). At first, we extend the IACA to the FACA based on the long-term memory of fractional difference. Secondly, we discuss the algorithmic flow of the FACA. Thirdly, we present the mathematical proof and convergence analysis of the FACA. Fourthly, we present the experiment results obtained and the associated analyses carried out. The paper introduces a novel mathematical approach, fractional calculus, to the family of ant colony algorithms, that differs from most of the previous approaches and hence it presents an interesting theoretical contribution in this research domain.