Applications of Biological Cell Models in Robotics

In this paper I present some of the most representative biological models applied to robotics. In particular, this work represents a survey of some models inspired, or making use of concepts, by gene regulatory networks (GRNs): these networks describe the complex interactions that affect gene expression and, consequently, cell behaviour

EvoTanks: co-evolutionary development of game-playing agents

This paper describes the EvoTanks research project, a continuing attempt to develop strong AI players for a primitive 'Combat' style video game using evolutionary computational methods with artificial neural networks. A small but challenging feat due to the necessity for agent's actions to rely heavily on opponent behaviour. Previous investigation has shown the agents are capable of developing high performance behaviours by evolving against scripted opponents; however these are local to the trained opponent. The focus of this paper shows results from the use of co-evolution on the same population. Results show agents no longer succumb to trappings of local maxima within the search space and are capable of converging on high fitness behaviours local to their population without the use of scripted opponents

Evolutionary connectionism: algorithmic principles underlying the evolution of biological organisation in evo-devo, evo-eco and evolutionary transitions

The mechanisms of variation, selection and inheritance, on which evolution by natural selection depends, are not fixed over evolutionary time. Current evolutionary biology is increasingly focussed on understanding how the evolution of developmental organisations modifies the distribution of phenotypic variation, the evolution of ecological relationships modifies the selective environment, and the evolution of reproductive relationships modifies the heritability of the evolutionary unit. The major transitions in evolution, in particular, involve radical changes in developmental, ecological and reproductive organisations that instantiate variation, selection and inheritance at a higher level of biological organisation. However, current evolutionary theory is poorly equipped to describe how these organisations change over evolutionary time and especially how that results in adaptive complexes at successive scales of organisation (the key problem is that evolution is self-referential, i.e. the products of evolution change the parameters of the evolutionary process). Here we first reinterpret the central open questions in these domains from a perspective that emphasises the common underlying themes. We then synthesise the findings from a developing body of work that is building a new theoretical approach to these questions by converting well-understood theory and results from models of cognitive learning. Specifically, connectionist models of memory and learning demonstrate how simple incremental mechanisms, adjusting the relationships between individually-simple components, can produce organisations that exhibit complex system-level behaviours and improve the adaptive capabilities of the system. We use the term “evolutionary connectionism” to recognise that, by functionally equivalent processes, natural selection acting on the relationships within and between evolutionary entities can result in organisations that produce complex system-level behaviours in evolutionary systems and modify the adaptive capabilities of natural selection over time. We review the evidence supporting the functional equivalences between the domains of learning and of evolution, and discuss the potential for this to resolve conceptual problems in our understanding of the evolution of developmental, ecological and reproductive organisations and, in particular, the major evolutionary transitions

An Implementation of Intrusion Detection System Using Genetic Algorithm

Nowadays it is very important to maintain a high level security to ensure safe and trusted communication of information between various organizations. But secured data communication over internet and any other network is always under threat of intrusions and misuses. So Intrusion Detection Systems have become a needful component in terms of computer and network security. There are various approaches being utilized in intrusion detections, but unfortunately any of the systems so far is not completely flawless. So, the quest of betterment continues. In this progression, here we present an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), by applying genetic algorithm (GA) to efficiently detect various types of network intrusions. Parameters and evolution processes for GA are discussed in details and implemented. This approach uses evolution theory to information evolution in order to filter the traffic data and thus reduce the complexity. To implement and measure the performance of our system we used the KDD99 benchmark dataset and obtained reasonable detection rate

Using evolutionary artificial neural networks to design hierarchical animat nervous systems.

The research presented in this thesis examines the area of control systems for robots or animats (animal-like robots). Existing systems have problems in that they require a great deal of manual design or are limited to performing jobs of a single type. For these reasons, a better solution is desired. The system studied here is an Artificial Nervous System (ANS) which is biologically inspired; it is arranged as a hierarchy of layers containing modules operating in parallel. The ANS model has been developed to be flexible, scalable, extensible and modular. The ANS can be implemented using any suitable technology, for many different environments. The implementation focused on the two lowest layers (the reflex and action layers) of the ANS, which are concerned with control and rhythmic movement. Both layers were realised as Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) which were created using Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs). The task of the reflex layer was to control the position of an actuator (such as linear actuators or D.C. motors). The action layer performed the task of Central Pattern Generators (CPG), which produce rhythmic patterns of activity. In particular, different biped and quadruped gait patterns were created. An original neural model was specifically developed for assisting in the creation of these time-based patterns. It is shown in the thesis that Artificial Reflexes and CPGs can be configured successfully using this technique. The Artificial Reflexes were better at generalising across different actuators, without changes, than traditional controllers. Gaits such as pace, trot, gallop and pronk were successfully created using the CPGs. Experiments were conducted to determine whether modularity in the networks had an impact. It has been demonstrated that the degree of modularization in the network influences its evolvability, with more modular networks evolving more efficiently

Molecular self-organisation in a developmental model for the evolution of large-scale artificial neural networks

We argue that molecular self-organisation during embryonic development allows evolution to perform highly nonlinear combinatorial optimisation. A structured approach to architectural optimisation of large-scale Artificial Neural Networks using this principle is presented. We also present simulation results demonstrating the evolution of an edge detecting retina using the proposed methodology

Comparison of Selection Methods in On-line Distributed Evolutionary Robotics

In this paper, we study the impact of selection methods in the context of on-line on-board distributed evolutionary algorithms. We propose a variant of the mEDEA algorithm in which we add a selection operator, and we apply it in a taskdriven scenario. We evaluate four selection methods that induce different intensity of selection pressure in a multi-robot navigation with obstacle avoidance task and a collective foraging task. Experiments show that a small intensity of selection pressure is sufficient to rapidly obtain good performances on the tasks at hand. We introduce different measures to compare the selection methods, and show that the higher the selection pressure, the better the performances obtained, especially for the more challenging food foraging task

Cultural Learning in a Dynamic Environment: an Analysis of Both Fitness and Diversity in Populations of Neural Network Agents

Evolutionary learning is a learning model that can be described as the iterative Darwinian process of fitness-based selection and genetic transfer of information leading to populations of higher fitness. Cultural learning describes the process of information transfer between individuals in a population through non-genetic means. Cultural learning has been simulated by combining genetic algorithms and neural networks using a teacher/pupil scenario where highly fit individuals are selected as teachers and instruct the next generation. This paper examines the effects of cultural learning on the evolutionary process of a population of neural networks. In particular, the paper examines the genotypic and phenotypic diversity of a population as well as its fitness. Using these measurements, it is possible to examine the effects of cultural learning on the population's genetic makeup. Furthermore, the paper examines whether cultural learning provides a more robust learning mechanism in the face of environmental changes. Three benchmark tasks have been chosen as the evolutionary task for the population: the bit-parity problem, the game of tic-tac-toe and the game of connect-four. Experiments are conducted with populations employing evolutionary learning alone and populations combining evolutionary and cultural learning in an environment that changes dramatically.Cultural Learning, Dynamic Environments, Diversity, Multi-Agent Systems, Artificial Life

Genetic algorithmic parameter optimisation of a recurrent spiking neural network model

Neural networks are complex algorithms that loosely model the behaviour of the human brain. They play a significant role in computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence. The next generation of neural network models is based on the spike timing activity of neurons: spiking neural networks (SNNs). However, model parameters in SNNs are difficult to search and optimise. Previous studies using genetic algorithm (GA) optimisation of SNNs were focused mainly on simple, feedforward, or oscillatory networks, but not much work has been done on optimising cortex-like recurrent SNNs. In this work, we investigated the use of GAs to search for optimal parameters in recurrent SNNs to reach targeted neuronal population firing rates, e.g. as in experimental observations. We considered a cortical column based SNN comprising 1000 Izhikevich spiking neurons for computational efficiency and biologically realism. The model parameters explored were the neuronal biased input currents. First, we found for this particular SNN, the optimal parameter values for targeted population averaged firing activities, and the convergence of algorithm by ~100 generations. We then showed that the GA optimal population size was within ~16-20 while the crossover rate that returned the best fitness value was ~0.95. Overall, we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of implementing GA to optimise model parameters in a recurrent cortical based SNN.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Adaptation of Robot Behaviour through Online Evolution and Neuromodulated Learning

Abstract. We propose and evaluate a novel approach to the online syn-thesis of neural controllers for autonomous robots. We combine online evolution of weights and network topology with neuromodulated learn-ing. We demonstrate our method through a series of simulation-based ex-periments in which an e-puck-like robot must perform a dynamic concur-rent foraging task. In this task, scattered food items periodically change their nutritive value or become poisonous. Our results show that when neuromodulated learning is employed, neural controllers are synthesised faster than by evolution alone. We demonstrate that the online evolu-tionary process is capable of generating controllers well adapted to the periodic task changes. An analysis of the evolved networks shows that they are characterised by specialised modulatory neurons that exclusively regulate the output neurons