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Evolution-in-materio: solving function optimization problems using materials

Mohid, M; Miller, JF; Harding, SL; Tufte, G; Lykkebo, OR; Massey, MK; Petty, MC

Authors

M Mohid

JF Miller

SL Harding

G Tufte

OR Lykkebo

MK Massey

MC Petty



Abstract

Evolution-in-materio (EIM) is a method that uses artificial evolution to exploit properties of materials to solve computational problems without requiring a detailed understanding of such properties. In this paper, we show that using a purpose-built hardware platform called Mecobo, it is possible to evolve voltages and signals applied to physical materials to solve computational problems. We demonstrate for the first time that this methodology can be applied to function optimization. We evaluate the approach on 23 function optimization benchmarks and in some cases results come very close to the global optimum or even surpass those provided by a well-known software-based evolutionary approach. This indicates that EIM has promise and further investigations would be fruitful.

Citation

Mohid, M., Miller, J., Harding, S., Tufte, G., Lykkebo, O., Massey, M., & Petty, M. (2014). Evolution-in-materio: solving function optimization problems using materials. In Computational Intelligence (UKCI) : 2014 14th UK Workshop on, 8-10 September 2014, Bradford, UK ; proceedings (1-8). https://doi.org/10.1109/ukci.2014.6930152

Conference Name 2014 14th UK Workshop on Computational Intelligence (UKCI)
Conference Location Bradford, UK
Publication Date Sep 1, 2014
Deposit Date Oct 30, 2014
Publisher Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages 1-8
Book Title Computational Intelligence (UKCI) : 2014 14th UK Workshop on, 8-10 September 2014, Bradford, UK ; proceedings.
DOI https://doi.org/10.1109/ukci.2014.6930152
Keywords Arrays, Benchmark testing, Biological cells, Electrodes, Hardware, Materials, Optimization, Evolution-in-materio, Evolutionary algorithm, Evolvable hardware, Function optimization, Material computation.
Additional Information Conference dates: 8-10 Sept. 2014


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