Topics in Bio-Inspired Computing
Semester B, 2001-2002
Lecturer: Prof. Moshe Sipper
Projects must be submitted by the end of
the semester: Friday, June 21, 2002.
Course Description
Students will work on software projects in the area of bio-inspired
computing (evolutionary computation, cellular computing, artificial
self-replication, cellular automata, and more) and artificial life.
Manadatory Reading
List of Projects (constantly updated):
- Searching for Solutions to the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) using an
Algorithm Simulating a Nest of Ants.
Source:
Dorigo M., V. Maniezzo & A. Colorni (1996).
The Ant System: Optimization by a Colony of Cooperating Agents.
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics-Part B, 26(1):29-41.
- Genetic Art: Creating Computer Images via Evolution.
Source:
K. Sims,
Artificial Evolution for Computer Graphics,
Computer Graphics, Vol. 25, No. 4, July 1991, pp. 319-328.
- Co-Evolving Non-Uniform Cellular Automata to Perform Computations.
Source:
M. Sipper,
Co-Evolving Non-Uniform Cellular Automata to Perform Computations,
Physica D, vol. 92, pp. 193-208, 1996.
- Cooperative Coevolution.
Source:
M. A. Potter and K. A. De Jong,
Cooperative Coevolution: An Architecture for Evolving Coadapted Subcomponents,
Evolutionary Computation, Vol. 8, No. 1, Spring 2000.
- Self-Replicating Loops.
Source:
H. Sayama
A New Structurally Dissolvable Self-Reproducing Loop Evolving in a
Simple Cellular Automata Space,
Artificial Life, Vol. 5, No. 4, Fall 1999.
More information can be found
here.
- Using Self-Replicating Loops to Solve the (NP-Complete) Problem of
Satisfiability.
Source:
H.-H. Chou and J. A. Reggia,
Problem Solving During Artificial Selection of Self-Replicating Loops,
Physica D, Vol. 115, No. 3-4, 1998, pp. 293-312.
The abstract is available
here, and the article itself can be photocopied
at the central library.
Also read the following article about the
Trend
environment.
- A Simulator for Braitenberg Vehicles (a series of simulated robots, going from
very simple ones to more complex ones).
Source:
V. Braitenberg, Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology,
The MIT Press, 1984, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (A small, beautifully written book.)
- Select a hard problem you've encountered during your computer-science
studies, and attempt to solve it with a genetic algorithm.
Source:
M. Tomassini,
Evolutionary Algorithms.
- A Java Applet Demonstrating the Workings of a Genetic Algorithm (must work in browser mode).
Source:
M. Tomassini,
Evolutionary Algorithms.
Administrative Details
- Course reference: 202-1-4791.
- Web: www.cs.bgu.ac.il/~sipper/courses/topics02b/.
- Prerequisite: The course is intended for third-year students.
- Credits: 2.
- Time: Monday 10-12.
- Place: Building 34, Room 9.
- Grade:
- 70%: Project evaluation.
- 30%: Final report.
- Students may work on their own or in pairs.
- The final report (between 10-20 pages) should include the following sections:
- a short introduction of the domain being investigated;
- a description of the problem or phenomenon studied;
- an explanation of the methods and algorithms employed;
- a description of your programmed system;
- an account of the results obtained;
- (hopefully...) some interesting conclusions;
- bibliographic references.