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Generic Evolutionary Design

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Soft Computing in Engineering Design and Manufacturing

Abstract

Generic evolutionary design means the creation of a range of different designs by evolution. This paper introduces generic evolutionary design by a computer, describing a system capable of the evolution of a wide range of solid object designs from scratch, using a genetic algorithm.

The paper reviews relevant literature, and outlines a number of advances necessitated by the development of the system, including: a new generic representation of solid objects, a new multiobjective fitness ranking method, and variable-length chromosomes. A library of modular evaluation software is also described, which allows a user to define new design problems quickly and easily by picking combinations of modules to guide the evolution of designs.

Finally, the feasibility of generic evolutionary design by a computer is demonstrated by presenting the successful evolution of both conventional and unconventional designs for a range of different solid-object design tasks, e.g. tables, heatsinks, prisms, boat hulls, aerodynamic cars.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University College London, Gower St., London, WCIE 6BT, UK

    P. J. Bentley

  2. Division of Computing and Control Systems, School of Engineering University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, UK

    J. P. Wakefield

Authors
  1. P. J. Bentley
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  2. J. P. Wakefield
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. J. Bentley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    P. K. Chawdhry Ph.D.

  2. The CIM Institute, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK

    R. Roy Ph.D.

  3. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai, 400 076, India

    R. K. Pant PhD

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag London

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Cite this paper

Bentley, P.J., Wakefield, J.P. (1998). Generic Evolutionary Design. In: Chawdhry, P.K., Roy, R., Pant, R.K. (eds) Soft Computing in Engineering Design and Manufacturing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0427-8_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0427-8_31

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-76214-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-0427-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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