Substrate Encoding

Abstract

In this chapter we augment our TWEANN to also evolve indirect encoded NN based systems. We discuss, architect, and implement substrate encoding. Substrate encoding allows for the evolved NN based systems to become geometrical-regularity sensitive with regards to sensory signals. We extend our existing genotype encoding method and give it the ability to encode both, neural and substrate based NNs. We then extend the exoself to map the extended genotype to the extended phenotype capable of supporting substrate encoded NN systems. Finally, we modify the genome mutator module to support new, substrate NN specific mutation operators, and then test the system on our previously developed benchmarking problems.