Note: this is a dynamic schedule, it will almost definitely change as the semester progresses, so make sure to regularly check for changes!
| Week | Event | Date | Topic | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Lecture 1 | Monday 8/19 | Course Overview, TA Introduction & Assignment 0 Overview | Syllabus |
| Lecture 2 | Wednesday 8/21 | Introduction to Heuristic Search Algorithms | ||
| Lecture 3 | Friday 8/23 | Computational Problem Classes & Introduction to Assignment Series 1 | Chapter 1 | |
| Assignment 0 | Sunday 8/25 | Assignment Environment Setup | ||
| Week 2 | Lecture 4 | Monday 8/26 | Review of Genetics and Neo-Darwinian Evolution Theory | Chapter 2 |
| Lecture 5 | Wednesday 8/28 | Introduction to Evolutionary Computing | §3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 9.1, 9.2 | |
| Lecture 6 | Friday 8/30 | Introduction to Statistical Analysis of Stochastic Algorithms | §9.1, 9.2 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 8/30 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Shelby 2117 (ACRC Conference Room) | ||
| Week 3 | Labor Day | Monday 9/2 | No class | |
| Lecture 7 | Wednesday 9/4 | Decoding & Knapsack Problem, Initialization | §3.2.1, 3.2.7, 3.4.2 | |
| AI@AU Seminar | Friday 9/6 10-11am Lowder 127 | Coevolving Adversarial Intelligence in Natural and Artificial Systems | ||
| Lecture 8 | Friday 9/6 11:15-11:50am | Genetic Drift, Representation | §4.1-4.4 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 9/6 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Brown-Kopel 2174 | ||
| Assignment 1a | Sunday 9/8 | Analyzing Stochastic Algorithms | ||
| Week 4 | Lecture 9 | Monday 9/9 | Variation Operators | §4.1-4.3, 4.4.1, 4.4.3, 4.5.2 |
| 15th Class Day | Monday 9/9 | Last day to drop with no grade assignment | ||
| Lecture 10 | Wednesday 9/11 | Assignment 1b Presentation | Slides | |
| Lecture 11 | Friday 9/13 | Permutation Recombination Operators | §4.5.2 | |
| Week 5 | Lecture 11 | Monday 9/16 | Population Models & Selection Methods | §5.1-5.3 |
| Exam 1 | Wednesday 9/18 | Exam covering all material covered through Lecture 12 | Chapters 1-5 (not §4.4.2, 4.6, 5.4, nor 5.5), §6.1, §9.1, 9.2 | |
| Lecture 13 | Friday 9/20 | Constraint Handling | Chapter 13 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 9/20 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Brown-Kopel 2174 | ||
| Assignment 1b | Sunday 9/22 | Implementing & Tuning Evolutionary Algorithms | ||
| Week 6 | Lecture 14 | Monday 9/23 | Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) | Chapter 12 |
| Career Fair | Monday 9/23 | Engineering Career Fair Day 1: 1:00 - 4:00 PM | ||
| Lecture 15 | Wednesday 9/25 | Assignment 1c Overview; MOEAs continued | Chapter 12 | |
| Career Fair | Thursday 9/26 | Engineering Career Fair Day 2: 1:00 - 4:00 PM | ||
| Lecture 16 | Friday 9/27 | TOPIC TBD | ||
| Week 7 | Lecture 17 | Monday 9/30 | Assignment 1b Common Mistakes & Evolution Strategies | §4.4.2,6.2, Chapter 8 |
| Lecture 18 | Wednesday 10/2 | Multimodal Problems, Diversity Maintenance, Spatial Distribution | §5.5 | |
| Lecture 19 | Friday 10/4 | Evolutionary Programming | §5.3.2, 6.3 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 10/4 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Brown-Kopel 2174 | ||
| Assignment 1c | Sunday 10/6 | Constraint Satisfaction | ||
| Week 8 | Lecture 20 | Monday 10/7 | Learning Classifier Systems | §6.5 |
| Mid-Semester | Tuesday 10/8 | Mid-Semester - 36th Class Day | ||
| Lecture 21 | Wednesday 10/9 | Memetic EAs, Lamarckianism, Baldwin Effect | Chapter 10 | |
| Fall Break | Thursday 10/10 & Friday 10/11 | No class | ||
| Week 9 | Lecture 22 | Monday 10/14 | Genetic Programming | Section 6.4 |
| Exam 2 | Wednesday 10/16 | Exam covering all material covered through Lecture 22 | ||
| Lecture 23 | Friday 10/18 | TOPIC TBD | ||
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 10/18 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Brown-Kopel 2174 | ||
| Assignment 1d | Sunday 10/20 | Multi-Objective Optimization | ||
| Week 10 | Lecture 24 | Monday 10/21 | Genetic Programming | Section 6.4 |
| Lecture 25 | Wednesday 10/23 | GP The Movie Part 1 | Sections 4.6, 6.4 | |
| Lecture 26 | Friday 10/25 | GP The Movie Part 2 | ||
| Week 11 | Lecture 27 | Monday 10/28 | GPac Presentation by Braden | |
| Lecture 28 | Wednesday 10/30 | GP Case Studies | ||
| Lecture 29 | Friday 11/1 | GP Variants Lecture by Sean | ||
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 11/1 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Brown-Kopel 2174 | ||
| Assignment 2a | Sunday 11/3 | Tree Representations | ||
| Week 12 | Lecture 30 | Monday 11/4 | Learning Classifier Systems | §6.5 |
| Lecture 31 | Wednesday 11/6 | Schema Theory | §16.1 | |
| Lecture 32 | Friday 11/8 | Schema Theory cont. + Differential Evolution | §16.1,6.6 | |
| Week 13 | Lecture 33 | Monday 11/11 | Schema Theory Sample Exam Questions, No Free Lunch Theorem, Memetic Algorithms, Lamarckianism, Baldwin Effect, Hyper-heuristics | §16.1, 16.10, Chapter 10 |
| Lecture 34 | Wednesday 11/13 | Hyper-heuristics cont. | ||
| Lecture 35 | Friday 11/15 | Asynchronous Parallel EAs, Interactive EAs | Chapter 14 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 11/15 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Brown-Kopel 2174 | ||
| Assignment 2b | Sunday 11/17 | Genetic Programming | ||
| Week 14 | Lecture 36 | Monday 11/18 | Coevolution | Chapter 15 |
| Lecture 37 | Wednesday 11/20 | Island Models and Competitive Coevolution | ||
| Lecture 38 | Friday 11/22 | Neuroevolution, CMA-ES, Quality Diversity | ||
| Last Withdraw Day | Friday 11/22 | Last Day to Withdraw | ||
| Week 15 | No class | Monday 11/25 | Thanksgiving Break | |
| No class | Wednesday 11/27 | Thanksgiving Break | ||
| No class | Friday 11/29 | Thanksgiving Break | ||
| Week 16 | Lecture 39 | Monday 12/2 | Braden's Presentation - Breaking the Cycle: Exploring the Advantages of Novel Evolutionary Cycles | |
| Exam 3 | Wednesday 12/4 | Exam covering all material covered through Lecture 38 | Chapters 1-5, Sections 6.1-6.6, Chapters 7 & 8, Sections 9.1 & 9.2, Chapters 10, 12-15, Sections 16.1 & 16.10 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Wednesday 12/4 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM in Brown-Kopel 2174 | ||
| Lecture 40 | Friday 12/6 | Deacon's Lecture on AI Software Development | ||
| Assignment 2c | Friday 12/6 | Genetic Programming & Coevolution | ||
| Week 17 | Final Exam | Friday 12/13 10:30am-12:30pm | Comprehensive Exam covering all course material (regular class room) | Chapters 1-5, Sections 6.1-6.6, Chapters 7 & 8, Sections 9.1 & 9.2, Chapters 10, 12-15, Sections 16.1 & 16.10 |