"Artificial Life: Microanalytic Simulation of Evolution in a Virtual Environment"
Jesse Legg 2003
Abstract
To model artificial life and natural evolution researchers at UCLA in the early 1990s developed a system of computer programs called Genesys/Tracker. Genesys simulations use a fine-grained model of behavior for a population of organisms, thus the approach is "microanalytic". The model investigates artificial ants and their ability to navigate a trail of pheromones. This study attempts to duplicate the results of this research and thus investigates the necessary background material of artificial life, cellular automata, neural networks and genetic algorithms. The author implemented a successful replication of the original work using the OCaml programming language to design a genetic algorithms library and a simulation front-end.
Results from author's study (high score of 81)
Original UCLA Genesys system results (high score of 81)