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The mating process looks like it is a mathemetical average of various statistics of the mother and father. It wasn't the kind of cool dna I envisioned, where t
by unoti 11y ago
The mating process looks like it is a mathemetical average of various statistics of the mother and father. It wasn't the kind of cool dna I envisioned, where the food search algorithm is a little program that the creatures execute.
If you're interested in writing software that genetically writes other software, check out this amazing book by Koza[1]. It's one of my favorite books that I have on my shelf. Armed with this book and a computer, you can have a ton of fun.
In that book, the author dedicates a chapter to virtual ants, and evolves programs for the ants that control where they move and what search strategies they use based on sensor inputs. And that's by far not the most interesting type of program he evolves. It's a thick book, and there are things like evolving a program to drive a tractor trailer and back it into a loading dock.
As a little bonus, this book was how I ended up understanding the vital importance of AST's, and it's how I first "groked" LISP. LISP isn't a pre-requisite to understanding the book, but you'll understand the big concepts by the end.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Programming-Computers-Selection-Adaptive/dp/0262111705 http://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Programming-Computers-Selectio...
- webnrrd2k 11y agoKoza's text is good, but, depending on the student, may be a little deep to start with. I's suggest A Field Guide To Genetic Programming [1] as a better start for most programmers, and then follow up with Koza's books. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Genetic-Programming/dp/1409200736/ http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Genetic-Programming/dp/140...
- 1rae 11y agoThanks for this recommendation... I will definitely check out the book myself. I went off the rails a bit and tried something complex in my final year of university with a sensor input based system using emotions to try control behaviour. https://medium.com/@dshields/working-with-emotional-models-in-an-artificial-life-simulation-c6309a586e55 https://medium.com/@dshields/working-with-emotional-models-i... I really want to get back into it and finish off the project properly so this chapter on virtual ants sounds like a good place to start.
- unoti 11y agoI just read your fascinating and fun paper. Your interest expanding your model using genetic algorithms will be well-served with his book. Last time I checked, a good amount of Koza's work was available online if you want to take a peek earlier, but it's been a few years since I looked.