Abstract: Based on the properties of the ant colony optmization (ACO) and Alopex algorithm, a hybrid optimization algorithm(ACOAL), in which the Alopex algorithm is embedded in the improved ant colony optimization algorithm, is proposed for searching for continuous space optimization. In the algorithm, the new pheromone updating rule and the searching way in the continuous space and the moving strategy of ants are defined. The algorithm is of the rapid search capability of the improved Alopex algorithm and the good search characteristics of the improved ant colony optimization algorithm, and the convergent speed of the presented algorithm avoiding being trapped in local optimum is improved. Simulation results show that the algorithm is effective.

Key words: ant colony optimization, Alopex algorithm, continuous space optimization