Asynchronous storming-norming ant colony system for project scheduling under scenario perturbation of activity attributes

Wen Shi, Feng-Feng Wei, Jianing Xi, Wei-Neng Chen

Abstract:

Project scheduling is essential in complex fields like infrastructure and healthcare, but current methods
often fail to capture the subtle interplay between different activity attributes, such as cost and duration.
These factors, fraught with uncertainty, can lead to unpredictable changes and unreliable assessments. To
alleviate these issues, we introduce a novel approach called Asynchronous Storming-Norming Ant Colony
System based on Scenario Unification simulation(ASN-ACS-SU). Firstly, we introduce a scenario unification
framework, ensuring simulations are consistent across scenarios, thus greatly enhancing stability. Next, we
integrate a storming-norming strategy, adapting different tactics based on the evolution stage, effectively
accelerating convergence. Lastly, an asynchronous scheme, tailored for handling various activity attributes
asynchronously, is incorporated to improve the effectiveness of the solution. These components are skillfully
integrated into the Ant Colony System framework, ensuring a harmonious combination of their individual
strengths. Comprehensive tests using simulation datasets and demonstrate that ASN-ACS-SU significantly
outperforms existing algorithms, including CH-GA, LRBH, Hybrid DE and Two-stage GA, which are stateof-
the-art algorithms for multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problems. The proposed method
demonstrates non-inferiority to CH-GA and Hybrid DE in at least 90% of scenarios, to Two-stage GA in at least
80% of scenarios and to LRBH in at least 70% of scenarios in all datasets. Thus, the validity and reliability of
the ASN-ACS-SU can be demonstrated.