An Improved Image Steganography Security and Capacity Using Ant Colony Algorithm Optimization

This advanced paper presents a new approach to improving image steganography using the Ant Colony Optimization(ACO)algorithm.Image steganography,a technique of embedding hidden information in digital photographs,should ideally achieve the dual purposes of maximum data hiding and maintenance of the integrity of the cover media so that it is least suspect.The contemporary methods of steganography are at best a compromise between these two.In this paper,we present our approach,entitled Ant Colony Optimization(ACO)-Least Significant Bit(LSB),which attempts to optimize the capacity in steganographic embedding.The approach makes use of a grayscale cover image to hide the confidential data with an additional bit pair per byte,both for integrity verification and the file checksumof the secret data.This approach encodes confidential information into four pairs of bits and embeds it within uncompressed grayscale images.The ACO algorithm uses adaptive exploration to select some pixels,maximizing the capacity of data embedding whileminimizing the degradation of visual quality.Pheromone evaporation is introduced through iterations to avoid stagnation in solution refinement.The levels of pheromone are modified to reinforce successful pixel choices.Experimental results obtained through the ACO-LSB method reveal that it clearly improves image steganography capabilities by providing an increase of up to 30%in the embedding capacity compared with traditional approaches;the average Peak Signal to Noise Ratio(PSNR)is 40.5 dB with a Structural Index Similarity(SSIM)of 0.98.The approach also demonstrates very high resistance to detection,cutting down the rate by 20%.Implemented in MATLAB R2023a,the model was tested against one thousand publicly available grayscale images,thus providing robust evidence of its effectiveness.

Bio-Inspired Intelligent Routing in WSN: Integrating Mayfly Optimization and Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization for Energy-Efficient Cluster Formation and Maintenance

Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)are a collection of sensor nodes distributed in space and connected through wireless communication.The sensor nodes gather and store data about the real world around them.However,the nodes that are dependent on batteries will ultimately suffer an energy loss with time,which affects the lifetime of the network.This research proposes to achieve its primary goal by reducing energy consumption and increasing the network’s lifetime and stability.The present technique employs the hybrid Mayfly Optimization Algorithm-Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization(MFOA-EACO),where the Mayfly Optimization Algorithm(MFOA)is used to select the best cluster head(CH)from a set of nodes,and the Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization(EACO)technique is used to determine an optimal route between the cluster head and base station.The performance evaluation of our suggested hybrid approach is based on many parameters,including the number of active and dead nodes,node degree,distance,and energy usage.Our objective is to integrate MFOA-EACO to enhance energy efficiency and extend the network life of the WSN in the future.The proposed method outcomes proved to be better than traditional approaches such as Hybrid Squirrel-Flying Fox Optimization Algorithm(HSFLBOA),Hybrid Social Reindeer Optimization and Differential Evolution-Firefly Algorithm(HSRODE-FFA),Social Spider Distance Sensitive-Iterative Antlion Butterfly Cockroach Algorithm(SADSS-IABCA),and Energy Efficient Clustering Hierarchy Strategy-Improved Social Spider Algorithm Differential Evolution(EECHS-ISSADE).

A Distributed Ant Colony Optimization Applied in Edge Detection

With the rise of image data and increased complexity of tasks in edge detection, conventional artificial intelligence techniques have been severely impacted. To be able to solve even greater problems of the future, learning algorithms must maintain high speed and accuracy through economical means. Traditional edge detection approaches cannot detect edges in images in a timely manner due to memory and computational time constraints. In this work, a novel parallelized ant colony optimization technique in a distributed framework provided by the Hadoop/Map-Reduce infrastructure is proposed to improve the edge detection capabilities. Moreover, a filtering technique is applied to reduce the noisy background of images to achieve significant improvement in the accuracy of edge detection. Close examinations of the implementation of the proposed algorithm are discussed and demonstrated through experiments. Results reveal high classification accuracy and significant improvements in speedup, scaleup and sizeup compared to the standard algorithms.

An Effective Optimization Algorithm for Ant Colony Vehicular Congestion Management

Adaptability and dynamicity are special properties of social insects derived from the decentralized behavior of the insects. Authors have come up with designs for software solution that can regulate traffic congestion in a network transportation environment. The effectiveness of various researches on traffic management has been verified through appropriate metrics. Most of the traffic management systems are centered on using sensors, visual monitoring and neural networks to check for available parking space with the aim of informing drivers beforehand to prevent traffic congestion. There has been limited research on solving ongoing traffic congestion in congestion prone areas like car park with any of the common methods mentioned. This study focus however is on a motor park, as a highly congested area when it comes to traffic. The car park has two entrance gate and three exit gates which is divided into three Isle of parking lot where cars can park. An ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) was developed as an effective management system for controlling navigation and vehicular traffic congestion problems when cars exit a motor park. The ACO based on the nature and movement of the natural ants, simulates the movement of cars out of the car park through their nearest choice exit. A car park simulation was also used for the mathematical computation of the pheromone. The system was implemented using SIMD because of its dual parallelization ability. The result showed about 95% increase on the number of vehicles that left the motor park in one second. A clear indication that pheromones are large determinants of the shortest route to take as cars followed the closest exit to them. Future researchers may consider monitoring a centralized tally system for cars coming into the park through a censored gate being.

On the Development of a Hybridized Ant Colony Optimization (HACO) Algorithm

This paper proposes a Hybridized Ant Colony Optimization (HACO) algorithm. It integrates the advantages of Ant System (AS) and Ant Colony System (ACS) of solving optimization problems. The main focus and core of the HACO algorithm are based on annexing the strengths of the AS, ACO and the Max-Min Ant System (MMAS) previously proposed by various researchers at one time or the order. In this paper, the HACO algorithm for solving optimization problems employs new Transition Probability relations with a Jump transition probability relation which indicates the point or path at which the desired optimum value has been met. Also, it brings to play a new pheromone updating rule and introduces the pheromone evaporation residue that calculates the amount of pheromone left after updating which serves as a guide to the successive ant traversing the path and diverse local search approaches. Regarding the computational efficiency of the HACO algorithm, we observe that the HACO algorithm can find very good solutions in a short time, as the algorithm has been tested on a number of combinatorial optimization problems and results shown to compare favourably with analytical results. This strength can be combined with other metaheuristic approaches in the future work to solve complex combinatorial optimization problems.

Improved ant colony optimization for multi-depot heterogeneous vehicle routing problem with soft time windows

Considering that the vehicle routing problem （VRP） with many extended features is widely used in actual life, such as multi-depot, heterogeneous types of vehicles, customer service priority and time windows etc., a mathematical model for multi-depot heterogeneous vehicle routing problem with soft time windows （MDHVRPSTW） is established. An improved ant colony optimization （IACO） is proposed for solving this model. First, MDHVRPSTW is transferred into different groups according to the nearest principle, and then the initial route is constructed by the scanning algorithm （SA）. Secondly, genetic operators are introduced, and crossover probability and mutation probability are adaptively adjusted in order to improve the global search ability of the algorithm. Moreover, the smooth mechanism is used to improve the performance of the ant colony optimization （ACO）. Finally, the 3-opt strategy is used to improve the local search ability. The proposed IACO was tested on three new instances that were generated randomly. The experimental results show that IACO is superior to the other three existing algorithms in terms of convergence speed and solution quality. Thus, the proposed method is effective and feasible, and the proposed model is meaningful.

Optimization of Fairhurst-Cook Model for 2-D Wing Cracks Using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Particle Swarm Intelligence (PSO), and Genetic Algorithm (GA)

The common failure mechanism for brittle rocks is known to be axial splitting which happens parallel to the direction of maximum compression. One of the mechanisms proposed for modelling of axial splitting is the sliding crack or so called, “wing crack” model. Fairhurst-Cook model explains this specific type of failure which starts by a pre-crack and finally breaks the rock by propagating 2-D cracks under uniaxial compression. In this paper, optimization of this model has been considered and the process has been done by a complete sensitivity analysis on the main parameters of the model and excluding the trends of their changes and also their limits and “peak points”. Later on this paper, three artificial intelligence algorithms including Particle Swarm Intelligence (PSO), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and genetic algorithm (GA) has been used and compared in order to achieve optimized sets of parameters resulting in near-maximum or near-minimum amounts of wedging forces creating a wing crack.

Research on global path planning based on ant colony optimization for AUV

Path planning is an important issue for autonomous underwater vehicles （AUVs） traversing an unknown environment such as a sea floor, a jungle, or the outer celestial planets. For this paper, global path planning using large-scale chart data was studied, and the principles of ant colony optimization （ACO） were applied. This paper introduced the idea of a visibility graph based on the grid workspace model. It also brought a series of pheromone updating rules for the ACO planning algorithm. The operational steps of the ACO algorithm are proposed as a model for a global path planning method for AUV. To mimic the process of smoothing a planned path, a cutting operator and an insertion-point operator were designed. Simulation results demonstrated that the ACO algorithm is suitable for global path planning. The system has many advantages, including that the operating path of the AUV can be quickly optimized, and it is shorter, safer, and smoother. The prototype system successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the concept, proving it can be applied to surveys of unstructured unmanned environments.

Feature Extraction of Stored-grain Insects Based on Ant Colony Optimization and Support Vector Machine Algorithm

[Objective] The aim was to study the feature extraction of stored-grain insects based on ant colony optimization and support vector machine algorithm, and to explore the feasibility of the feature extraction of stored-grain insects. [Method] Through the analysis of feature extraction in the image recognition of the stored-grain insects, the recognition accuracy of the cross-validation training model in support vector machine （SVM） algorithm was taken as an important factor of the evaluation principle of feature extraction of stored-grain insects. The ant colony optimization （ACO） algorithm was applied to the automatic feature extraction of stored-grain insects. [Result] The algorithm extracted the optimal feature subspace of seven features from the 17 morphological features, including area and perimeter. The ninety image samples of the stored-grain insects were automatically recognized by the optimized SVM classifier, and the recognition accuracy was over 95%. [Conclusion] The experiment shows that the application of ant colony optimization to the feature extraction of grain insects is practical and feasible.

Max-Min Adaptive Ant Colony Optimization Approach to Multi-UAVs Coordinated Trajectory Replanning in Dynamic and Uncertain Environments

Multiple Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (multi-UAVs) coordinated trajectory replanning is one of the most complicated global optimum problems in multi-UAVs coordinated control. Based on the construction of the basic model of multi-UAVs coordinated trajectory replanning, which includes problem description, threat modeling, constraint conditions, coordinated function and coordination mechanism, a novel Max-Min adaptive Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) approach is presented in detail. In view of the characteristics of multi-UAVs coordinated trajectory replanning in dynamic and uncertain environments, the minimum and maximum pheromone trails in ACO are set to enhance the searching capability, and the point pheromone is adopted to achieve the collision avoidance between UAVs at the trajectory planner layer. Considering the simultaneous arrival and the air-space collision avoidance, an Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) is decided first. Then the trajectory and flight velocity of each UAV are determined. Simulation experiments are performed under the complicated combating environment containing some static threats and popup threats. The results demonstrate the feasibility and the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Improved ant colony optimization algorithm for the traveling salesman problems

Ant colony optimization （ACO） is a new heuristic algo- rithm which has been proven a successful technique and applied to a number of combinatorial optimization problems. The traveling salesman problem （TSP） is among the most important combinato- rial problems. An ACO algorithm based on scout characteristic is proposed for solving the stagnation behavior and premature con- vergence problem of the basic ACO algorithm on TSP. The main idea is to partition artificial ants into two groups： scout ants and common ants. The common ants work according to the search manner of basic ant colony algorithm, but scout ants have some differences from common ants, they calculate each route＇s muta- tion probability of the current optimal solution using path evaluation model and search around the optimal solution according to the mutation probability. Simulation on TSP shows that the improved algorithm has high efficiency and robustness.

Novel Approach to Nonlinear PID Parameter Optimization Using Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

This paper presents an application of an Ant Colony Optimization （ACO） algorithm to optimize the parameters in the design of a type of nonlinear PID controller. The ACO algorithm is a novel heuristic bionic algorithm, which is based on the behaviour of real ants in nature searching for food. In order to optimize the parameters of the nonlinear PID controller using ACO algorithm, an objective function based on position tracing error was constructed, and elitist strategy was adopted in the improved ACO algorithm. Detailed simulation steps are presented. This nonlinear PID controller using the ACO algorithm has high precision of control and quick response.

Ant colony optimization algorithm and its application to Neuro-Fuzzy controller design

An adaptive ant colony algorithm is proposed based on dynamically adjusting the strategy of updating trail information. The algorithm can keep good balance between accelerating convergence and averting precocity and stagnation. The results of function optimization show that the algorithm has good searching ability and high convergence speed. The algorithm is employed to design a neuro-fuzzy controller for real-time control of an inverted pendulum. In order to avoid the combinatorial explosion of fuzzy rules due tσ multivariable inputs, a state variable synthesis scheme is employed to reduce the number of fuzzy rules greatly. The simulation results show that the designed controller can control the inverted pendulum successfully.

Hybrid ant colony optimization for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

To solve the resource-constrained project scheduling problem （RCPSP）, a hybrid ant colony optimization （HACO） approach is presented. To improve the quality of the schedules, the HACO is incorporated with an extended double justification in which the activity splitting is applied to predict whether the schedule could be improved. The HACO is tested on the set of large benchmark problems from the project scheduling problem library （PSPLIB）. The computational result shows that the proposed algo- rithm can improve the quality of the schedules efficiently.

An effective multi-level algorithm based on ant colony optimization for graph bipartitioning

Partitioning is a fundamental problem with applications to many areas including data mining, parellel processing and Very-large-scale integration （VLSI） design. An effective multi-level algorithm for bisecting graph is proposed. During its coarsening phase, an improved matching approach based on the global information of the graph core is developed with its guidance function. During the refinement phase, the vertex gain is exploited as ant＇s heuristic information and a positive feedback method based on pheromone trails is used to find the global approximate bipartitioning. It is implemented with American National Standards Institute （ANSI） C and compared to MeTiS. The experimental evaluation shows that it performs well and produces encouraging solutions on 18 different graphs benchmarks.

Optimization of Air Route Network Nodes to Avoid ″Three Areas″ Based on An Adaptive Ant Colony Algorithm

Air route network(ARN)planning is an efficient way to alleviate civil aviation flight delays caused by increasing development and pressure for safe operation.Here,the ARN shortest path was taken as the objective function,and an air route network node(ARNN)optimization model was developed to circumvent the restrictions imposed by″three areas″,also known as prohibited areas,restricted areas,and dangerous areas(PRDs),by creating agrid environment.And finally the objective function was solved by means of an adaptive ant colony algorithm(AACA).The A593,A470,B221,and G204 air routes in the busy ZSHA flight information region,where the airspace includes areas with different levels of PRDs,were taken as an example.Based on current flight patterns,a layout optimization of the ARNN was computed using this model and algorithm and successfully avoided PRDs.The optimized result reduced the total length of routes by 2.14% and the total cost by 9.875%.

An adaptive ant colony system algorithm for continuous-space optimization problems

Ant colony algorithms comprise a novel category of evolutionary computation methods for optimization problems, especially for sequencing-type combinatorial optimization problems. An adaptive ant colony algorithm is proposed in this paper to tackle continuous-space optimization problems, using a new objective-function-based heuristic pheromone assignment approach for pheromone update to filtrate solution candidates.Global optimal solutions can be reached more rapidly by self-adjusting the path searching behaviors of the ants according to objective values. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with a basic ant colony algorithm and a Square Quadratic Programming approach in solving two benchmark problems with multiple extremes. The results indicated that the efficiency and reliability of the proposed algorithm were greatly improved.

Improved Ant Colony-Genetic Algorithm for Information Transmission Path Optimization in Remanufacturing Service System

The information transmission path optimization(ITPO) can often a ect the e ciency and accuracy of remanufactur?ing service. However, there is a greater degree of uncertainty and complexity in information transmission of remanu?facturing service system, which leads to a critical need for designing planning models to deal with this added uncer?tainty and complexity. In this paper, a three?dimensional(3D) model of remanufacturing service information network for information transmission is developed, which combines the physic coordinate and the transmitted properties of all the devices in the remanufacturing service system. In order to solve the basic ITPO in the 3D model, an improved 3D ant colony algorithm(Improved AC) was put forward. Moreover, to further improve the operation e ciency of the algorithm, an improved ant colony?genetic algorithm(AC?GA) that combines the improved AC and genetic algorithm was developed. In addition, by taking the transmission of remanufacturing service demand information of certain roller as example, the e ectiveness of AC?GA algorithm was analyzed and compared with that of improved AC, and the results demonstrated that AC?GA algorithm was superior to AC algorithm in aspects of information transmission delay, information transmission cost, and rate of information loss.

Improved Multi-objective Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in Complex Reasoning

The problem of fault reasoning has aroused great concern in scientific and engineering fields.However,fault investigation and reasoning of complex system is not a simple reasoning decision-making problem.It has become a typical multi-constraint and multi-objective reticulate optimization decision-making problem under many influencing factors and constraints.So far,little research has been carried out in this field.This paper transforms the fault reasoning problem of complex system into a paths-searching problem starting from known symptoms to fault causes.Three optimization objectives are considered simultaneously: maximum probability of average fault,maximum average importance,and minimum average complexity of test.Under the constraints of both known symptoms and the causal relationship among different components,a multi-objective optimization mathematical model is set up,taking minimizing cost of fault reasoning as the target function.Since the problem is non-deterministic polynomial-hard(NP-hard),a modified multi-objective ant colony algorithm is proposed,in which a reachability matrix is set up to constrain the feasible search nodes of the ants and a new pseudo-random-proportional rule and a pheromone adjustment mechinism are constructed to balance conflicts between the optimization objectives.At last,a Pareto optimal set is acquired.Evaluation functions based on validity and tendency of reasoning paths are defined to optimize noninferior set,through which the final fault causes can be identified according to decision-making demands,thus realize fault reasoning of the multi-constraint and multi-objective complex system.Reasoning results demonstrate that the improved multi-objective ant colony optimization(IMACO) can realize reasoning and locating fault positions precisely by solving the multi-objective fault diagnosis model,which provides a new method to solve the problem of multi-constraint and multi-objective fault diagnosis and reasoning of complex system.