N/A

The module will address:

- Why some problems are hard to solve

- Modern heuristic search methods such as Evolutionary Algorithms, including evolution strategies; meta-heuristic search techniques such as tabu-search, simulated annealing, iterated local search; ant-colony optimisation; hyper-heuristics and associated methods.

- Appropriate experimental methodologies for testing and analysing emergent computing algorithms

- Simple statistical methods for evaluating the results

Upon completion of this module you will be able to:

LO1: Assess the applicability of different optimisation algorithms to different problem domains
LO2: Understand the role played by algorithm operators in designing an algorithm
LO3: Specify, customise and use appropriate algorithms for particular practical problems
LO4: Apply an appropriate scientific approach to testing and analysing emergent computing algorithms and be able to use simple statistics to evaluate the results
LO5: Present the results in an appropriate form and draw appropriate conclusions