SYLLABUS PAGE, 2009/10

06-12418
Nature Inspired Design

Level 4/M

Mr R J Hendley

10 credits in Sem2

The School of Computer Science Module Description is a strict subset of this Syllabus Page. (The University module description has not yet been checked against the School's.)

Relevant Links

None.

Outline

This module introduces the basic ideas of nature-inspired design techniques. Different algorithms and their applications will be presented. Similarities and differences between these techniques/algorithms and other classical techniques will be discussed whenever appropriate. The design domain ranges from architectural, engineering and graphics design to electronic circuit design and evolvable hardware. Examples of such techniques include evolution and knowledge discovery, circuit design by evolution, novel architectural design by evolution, creative design, interactive evolution, evolutionary graphics, knowledge extraction from evolution, extrinsic evolvable hardware, intrinsic evolvable hardware, on-line adaptation, and implementation issues.

Aims

The aims of this module are to:

Introduce some of the fundamental techniques and principles in nature inspired design.
Investigate their strength, weakness, and potential applications.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:		Assessed by:
1	Demonstrate a good understanding of different nature-inspired design techniques and how they are applied to solve a real world problem.	Written Examination
2	Demonstrate a good understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of nature-inspired and other traditional design techniques and how they are combined and used to produce an effective solution to a real world problem.	Written Examination
3	Pursue further research in industry or in education (e.g. as a PhD student).

Restrictions, Prerequisites and Corequisites

Restrictions:

May not be taken if 06-14410 Nature Inspired Design (A) has been taken previously.

Prerequisites:

None

Co-requisites:

06-12412 Introduction to Neural Computation (unless 06-19341 Introduction to Natural Computation, 06-02360 Introduction to Neural Networks or equivalent has been taken previously); 06-22753 Introduction to Evolutionary Computation (unless 06-02411 Evolutionary Computation or equivalent has been taken previously)

Teaching

Teaching methods:

2 hrs lectures or tutorials per week

Contact hours:

Assessment

Normal (sessional): 1.5 hr written examination (100%)

Resit (supplementary) (where allowed): As the normal assessment.

Recommended Books

Title	Author(s)	Publisher, Date	Comments
Creative Evolutionary Systems	Peter J. Bentley and David W. Corne (eds.)	Morgan Kaufmann, 2001	Very useful reading for module. Highly recommended. We will use some of the accompanying software in tutorial work. Useful for lectures 3, 4, 11
The Computational Beauty of Nature	Gary William Flake	MIT Press, 1998	Excellent book. Useful for lectures on Artificial life, Cellular Automata, and Emergence (lectures 5,6,7). Related software will be used in tutorials.
Evolutionary Design by Computers	Peter J. Bentley	Morgan Kaufmann, 1999	Good collection of articles on evolutionary design in engineering. Useful for lecture 2, 3, 4, 6, 8

Detailed Syllabus

Engineering Design and Optimisation
Creative Design
Evolutionary Art
Artificial Life and Cellular Automata
Lindenmayer Systems and Developmental Approaches
Emergence
Evolvable Hardware
Artificial Immune Systems
Molecular Design
Music

06-12418Nature Inspired Design