Scheduling Resource-Constrained Projects with Ant Colony Optimization Artificial Agents

Abstract

The paper presents a methodology to schedule resource-constrained construction projects by use of algorithms based on ant colony optimization (ACO)

an artificial agent inspired by the collective behavior of natural ant colonies as they optimize their path from an origin (ant nest) to a destination (food source) by use of previously acquired knowledge. Further, to an application of the ACO artificial agent to a resource-unconstrained network topology, the method is applied to a resource-constrained network and utilized in examining the effects of resource availability constraints to critical path calculations and project completion time.