7 Swarm intelligence: Particles

 

This chapter covers

  • Understanding the inspiration for particle swarm intelligence algorithms
  • Understanding and solving optimization problems
  • Designing and implementing a particle swarm optimization algorithm

What is particle swarm optimization?

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is another swarm algorithm. Swarm intelligence relies on emergent behavior of many individuals to solve difficult problems as a collective. We saw in Chapter 6 how ants can find the shortest paths between destinations through their use of pheromones.

Optimization problems: A slightly more technical perspective

Problems applicable to particle swarm optimization

Representing state: What do particles look like?

Particle swarm optimization life cycle

Initialize the population of particles

Calculate the fitness of each particle

Update the position of each particle

Determine the stopping criteria

Use cases for particle swarm optimization algorithms

Summary of particle swarm optimization