A tour is a complete route in which an ant visits every location or attraction once. It records the sequence of visits and the total distance traveled. section 6.7 section 6.9
Ant colony optimization constructs tours incrementally. At each step, an ant chooses an unvisited destination using pheromone strength, a distance-based heuristic, and probabilistic selection; completing one tour contributes one iteration. section 6.7 section 6.4
A tour fits into the ACO lifecycle as follows:
- Start each ant at an attraction and repeatedly choose among destinations it has not visited. section 6.4
- Stop extending the route when every attraction has been visited once. section 6.7
- Compare completed tours by total distance and retain the shortest as the best solution. section 6.9
- Repeat tours across iterations while pheromone trails are updated and the stopping condition remains unmet. section 6.4
Carnival attractions
For six attractions, one optimal tour visits the swings, Ferris wheel, circus, carousel, balloons, and bumper cars. With more attractions, comparing every possible tour becomes increasingly expensive, making ACO useful for searching for a short route. section 6.2
Figure 6.11 The ACO algorithm life cycle
The lifecycle diagram shows where tour construction, completion checks, pheromone updates, best-tour selection, and termination fit together. section 6.4
