Abstract
Many forms of unconventional computing, i.e., massively parallel computers which exploit the non-linear material properties of their substrate, can be realised through simulated evolution. That is, the behaviour of non-linear media can be controlled automatically and the structural design of the media optimized through the nature-inspired machine learning approach. This chapter describes work using the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction as a non-linear chemical medium in which to realise computation. Firstly, aspects of the basic structure of an experimental chemical computer are evolved to implement two Boolean logic functions through a collision-based scheme. Secondly, a controller is evolved to dynamically affect the rich spatio-temporal chemical wave behaviour to implement three Boolean functions, in both simulation and experimentation.
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Bull, L., Toth, R., Stone, C., De Lacy Costello, B., Adamatzky, A. (2018). Chemical Computing Through Simulated Evolution. In: Stepney, S., Adamatzky, A. (eds) Inspired by Nature. Emergence, Complexity and Computation, vol 28. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67997-6_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67997-6_13
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