Book Image

Hands-On Neuroevolution with Python

By : Iaroslav Omelianenko
Book Image

Hands-On Neuroevolution with Python

By: Iaroslav Omelianenko

Overview of this book

Neuroevolution is a form of artificial intelligence learning that uses evolutionary algorithms to simplify the process of solving complex tasks in domains such as games, robotics, and the simulation of natural processes. This book will give you comprehensive insights into essential neuroevolution concepts and equip you with the skills you need to apply neuroevolution-based algorithms to solve practical, real-world problems. You'll start with learning the key neuroevolution concepts and methods by writing code with Python. You'll also get hands-on experience with popular Python libraries and cover examples of classical reinforcement learning, path planning for autonomous agents, and developing agents to autonomously play Atari games. Next, you'll learn to solve common and not-so-common challenges in natural computing using neuroevolution-based algorithms. Later, you'll understand how to apply neuroevolution strategies to existing neural network designs to improve training and inference performance. Finally, you'll gain clear insights into the topology of neural networks and how neuroevolution allows you to develop complex networks, starting with simple ones. By the end of this book, you will not only have explored existing neuroevolution-based algorithms, but also have the skills you need to apply them in your research and work assignments.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: Fundamentals of Evolutionary Computation Algorithms and Neuroevolution Methods
4
Section 2: Applying Neuroevolution Methods to Solve Classic Computer Science Problems
9
Section 3: Advanced Neuroevolution Methods
14
Section 4: Discussion and Concluding Remarks

Environment setup

When working with Python libraries, it is essential to set up a working environment properly. There are a lot of dependencies, including the Python language version and the binaries that are available in the system; all of these must be aligned and have compatible versions. As a result of this process, the conflicting configurations of libraries and language versions can be easily created, adding to the frustration and hours of debugging and bug fixes. To solve this problem, the concept of the virtual environment was introduced in the Python programming language. A virtual environment allows us to create isolated Python environments that contain all the necessary dependencies and executables that are used in a particular Python project. Such a virtual environment can be easily created and deleted after it is no longer needed, without leaving any remains in the...