On the Automatic Design of Robust Electronics Through Artificial Evolution.

Adrian Thompson

Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics,
School of Cognitive & Computing Sciences, University of Sussex,
Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
adrianth@sussex.ac.uk ; http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/adrianth/ade.html

Abstract:

`Unconstrained intrinsic hardware evolution' allows an evolutionary algorithm freedom to find the forms and processes natural to a reconfigurable VLSI medium. It has been shown to produce highly unconventional but extremely compact FPGA configurations for simple tasks, but these circuits are usually not robust enough to be useful: they malfunction if used on a slightly different FPGA, or at a different temperature. After defining an `operational envelope' of robustness, the feasibility of performing fitness evaluations in widely varying physical conditions in order to provide a selection-pressure for robustness is demonstrated. Preliminary experimental results are encouraging.