title: Application of the artificial bee colony algorithm for solving the set covering problem.
abstract: The set covering problem is a formal model for many practical optimization problems. In the set covering problem the goal is to choose a subset of the columns of minimal cost that covers every row. Here, we present a novel application of the artificial bee colony algorithm to solve the non-unicost set covering problem. The artificial bee colony algorithm is a recent swarm metaheuristic technique based on the intelligent foraging behavior of honey bees. Experimental results show that our artificial bee colony algorithm is competitive in terms of solution quality with other recent metaheuristic approaches for the set covering problem.
authors.affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 2362807 Valparaíso, Chile ; Universidad Finis Terrae, 7500000 Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Broderick
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 2362807 Valparaíso, Chile ; Universidad Autónoma de Chile, 7500000 Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 2362807 Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cuesta
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad Diego Portales, 8370179 Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paredes
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D001516:Bees; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical