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ACL | see Allegro Common LISP |
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action | In genetic programming, anything that an individual (ie: bot)
does that changes the environment (including movement). |
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Allegro Common LISP | The programming language used for the genetic
programming components of the BOTS project, supplied by Franz Inc. in Berkeley,
California, USA. |
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bin | A receptical which bots should put blocks into, to improve their
fitness. |
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block | Object that bots are supposed to move around. |
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Borland Delphi | The programming language used for the Graphic User
Interface and Environment components of the BOTS project. Our copy is the
Desktop version 2.0, supplied by the University of Western Sydney,
Nepean. |
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BOTSsim | Block Organisation Transport System simulator, the name of
this project's main program. |
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CBEP | Complex Environment Brain Protocol, developed by David Formosa.
This transfers information between the bot and environment protocol, simulating
how a bot would interact with a real-life environment. |
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component | One of the three parts of the overall project: the robots'
brain, the environment, and the GUI. |
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converge | When a population converges, it means the average fitness of
individuals in the population is near to the best fitness in that population.
This implies that population had become stable and found a robust solution to
the problem posed by the fitness function and environment. |
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control algorithms | see rule sets |
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crossover | A Genetic Programming operation that represents the exchange
of genetic material between two individuals to produce two new
individuals. |
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DA | see distribution area. |
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Delphi | see Borland Delphi |
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distribution area | Where bots get blocks from. |
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DLL | see dynamic link library. |
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dynamic link library | A method of communication between object code,
used at compile time. This is a feature supported by most compilers, so a
program can have different parts written in different programming
languages. |
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energy/energy level | Obsolete term synonymous with raw
fitness. |
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events | Formerly referred to as "triggers", this GUI term refers to a
routine in a program commencing execution because of some action, such as a
mouse click |
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environment | 1. One of the three components of the project, which
simulates the environment which the robots work in, including the location of
walls, delivery area, etc. |
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external issues | Things that need to be resolved with the client in
order for the project to progress. See also internal
issues. |
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fitness | see raw fitness |
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fitness function | Measures an individual's (ie: bot's) ability to
achieve its goal. |
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generation | One step in the genetic programming process. In BOTSsim,
each bot acts according to the same rule set in a given generation. At the end
of the generation, each bots' performance is evaluated, and new rule sets are
created for the next generation. |
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GP | Genetic Programming. Also used to refer to the "brain" component of
the project. |
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group | A collective noun for the six people involved with this project.
See also team. |
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GUI | Graphical User Interface -- one of the three components of the
project. |
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hit-o-gram | see hits histogram |
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hits histogram | A table that graphically represents the overall
performance of the simulation. It shows the number of bots that have made a
given number of "hits", such as pickups or drops. For example, one column in
the graph may show that five bots have managed to pick up exactly three
blocks. |
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HTML | HyperText Markup Language -- a language used to format text, and
embed graphics and links to other information. Although HTML's main domain is
the World Wide Web, it can also be used for more local
applications. |
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internal issues | Things that need to be resolved within the group in
order for the project to proceed. See also external
issues. |
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meta-language | A language that describes a language. |
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Pebbles | A robot simulation program written in Delphi 2.0 by Tony
Thompson. This code was written at Nepean, and may be a foundation for our
project. |
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radius (of an object) | The radius of the smallest circle that can
contain an object. This value is used by the environment component to
facilitate collision detection. |
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raw fitness | A GP measurement of how successful an individual (ie:
robot) has been in accomplishing its task. |
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receptacle | see bin. |
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Recursion | see recursion J |
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rule | In GP, a rule is statement that maps a condition to an action or
a rule sequence. |
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rule sequence | see rule set. |
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rule set | An ordered group of rules. |
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run | An indefinite series of generations within the same
template. |
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team | One of the two teams within the group, either GP or
GUI/Environment. See also group. |
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template | A representation of the space which the simulation takes
place in, eg: the factory floor. |
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S-expression | An instruction consisting of a condition and two
instructions--one to be executed when the condition is true, and one to be
executed when the condition is false. See also rule
set. |
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SED | Simulated Environment Designer -- old name for what is now known
as TED. This was to be a separate program to BOTSsim, although the latest
design has it built in. |
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shonky | A technical term meaning substandard, unreliable, or a fix that
was supposed to be temporary. |
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TED | Template EDitor -- formerly known as SED (Simulated Environment
Designer), this is the component that creates and edits
templates. |
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version 1 | The version of BOTSsim that we expected to finish at the end
of the Autumn semester, but really finished in week 6 of the Spring
semester. |
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version 2 | The version of BOTSsim that we expect to finish by the end
of the Spring semester, which should be a major improvement over version
1. |
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week An | Week n in Autumn semester in
the 1997 University calendar, excluding study breaks. |
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week Sn | Week n in Spring semester in
the 1997 University calendar, excluding study breaks.
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