Syllabus for SSE 635
Advanced Computational
Techniques
Early version; changes are
very likely.
Fall Semester 2010 (10F)
Instructor: Dr. Paul E. MacNeil
Office: Suite
223a, School of Engineering
Phone: 478-301-2185
Email: macneil_pe@mercer.edu
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Textbooks and Supplies:
Texts (including web sites):
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Software (including web sites):
- Note that this course is intended to be OS neutral.
- An Internet ftp client of your choice. Core FTP LE is
free and works well http://www.coreftp.com/
. (Required, but your choice)
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Other Useful Resources (including web sites):
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Catalog Description (Course Purpose):
Topics covered may include genetic algorithms,
artificial intelligence, and/or artificial neural networks.
This offering of this course will cover applications
of: evolutionary programming including genetic algorithms,
artificial neural networks, and fuzzy logic.
Note that, even though the text book applies these
techniques to computer games, this is not a computer games course.
We will be using the text for what it tells us about these
techniques, not about games.
This course begins on August 24, 2010.
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Course Objectives:
Breadth and Depth in Defining, Analyzing, and Solving Complex
Problems:
- After successfully completing this course, you should be able
to demonstrate a basic capability to apply soft computing
techniques to solve complex problems.
Communicate Technical Aspects of the Solution for Complex
Software Engineering Problems to a Technical Audience:
- After successfully completing this course, you should be able
to demonstrate a basic ability to communicate regarding the
application of soft computing techniques to a technical
audience.
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Prerequisites:
SSE 550.
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Class Location:
- The Online Learning asynchronous "meetings" take place in
Cyberspace; i.e., on the Internet.
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Grading:
|
Item
|
Percent of Term Grade
|
| Project 1 (solo) |
20
|
| Project 2 (solo) |
20
|
| Project 3 (solo) |
20
|
| Project 4 (team) |
30
|
| Listserv contributions |
10
|
More information about grading is contained in the General Project Rubric .
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Assignments:
- Purpose of projects:
-
- Use the projects to develop your capabilities, and
- Use the projects to demonstrate your capabilities.
- Deliverables for all projects:
-
- Projects may be delivered either via the course wiki or
via the course FTP site; both of these will be announced.
- Your report, if delivered via the FTP site should be a
single, standalone document .doc format, or a single set of
appropriately linked html pages.
- Your report should be organized in such a way as to make
the topics that you want credit for covering easy to find,
and demonstrate your capabilities clearly and convincingly.
Everything you want considered for credit, including code
and tests (including test results), should be included in
the report.
- Each project can be a single, integrated project that
tries to actually do something, or a collection of exercises
that demonstrate your capabilities but don't accomplish
anything else, or any combination of these two alternatives
that you find convenient.
- You may include other material outside of the report (on
the FTP site), if you wish, but this material may or may not
be considered in evaluating your work.
- For each capability that you demonstrate within a report
or major section of that report, you may present only the
final result of your work; you need not demonstrate every
step in the development of that result.
-
Some suggestions for doing a project are contained in
the One Way to Do a Project page.
-
Project Delivery
-
- Project 1(Solo)
- Pick an evolutionary computing technique (any of the
techniques listed near the top of
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/ai-faq/genetic/part2/preamble.html ),
and develop (program, test, and demonstrate) an implementation
of that technique to solve some problem (of your choice).
- Project 2 (Solo)
- Develop (program, test, and demonstrate) an implementation
of fuzzy logic to solve some problem (of your choice). You may
implement the system from the "Fuzzy Logic Courses" at
http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/Reference/concepts/fuzzy/introduction.htm
to satisfy this requirement if you so choose.
- Project 3 (Solo)
- Pick an neural net computing technique (other than
perceptrons), get your professor's approval to use that
technique for this project, and develop (program, test, and
demonstrate) an implementation of that technique to solve some
problem (of your choice).
- Project 4 (Team)
- Develop (program, test, and demonstrate) an implementation
of one or more computational intelligence techniques (of your
choice) to solve some problem (of your choice).
- TBD
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Additional Information:
- Asynchronous Learning Nets (ALNs)
-
- Self Study: You study the texts and any other course
study material on your own.
- Collaborative Projects: After your self-study, you
collaborate (via the Internet [email, wiki]) with your
partner(s) to produce a team product. Your collaborative
work is substantial, asynchronous, and rapid.
- This course is an online learning course. Please read
this Online Learning
web page regarding online learning in this course and this
program.
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- Subscribe to the course email listserv and be able to access
our wiki. Your professor
can tell you how to do this.
- Study the assigned material.
- Write and read email messages about ideas, problems and
solutions to do with the assigned study material.
- Do the assigned work, deliver the assigned deliverables.
- Write and read email messages (to/from the listserv) about
ideas, problems and solutions to do with the assigned
homework.
- Review the deliverables produced by other people.
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Changes to this Syllabus:
There will be changes to this syllabus, so check back
frequently, and don't forget to hit "Reload" or "Refresh".
Schedule
of Events and Assignments:
|
Start Date
|
End Date
|
Activity/Event
|
| August 24, 2010 |
December 13, 2010 |
Course in Progress |
| August 24, 2010 |
August 30, 2010 |
Read Bourg and Seeman: Preface, ch. 1 "Introduction to
Game AI", and ch. 15 "Genetic Algorithms". (Note that we
are using this text for its information about the
techniques we are studying, not for information about
game programming.) Also read the corresponding (i.e.,
genetic algorithm) material in Jones.
Read some of the other GA references under "Texts"
above.
Work on the Naive Genetic Algorithm; see http://www.paulemacneil.com/NaiveGA.htm
or http://faculty.mercer.edu/macneil_pe/SSEWeb/NaiveGA.htm
. Note that this is _not_ Project 1.
You can submit and discuss your results via the course
listserv.
|
| August 31, 2010 |
September 20, 2010 |
Work on Project 1. |
| |
September 20, 2010 |
Project 1 due. |
| |
October 11, 2010 |
Project 2 due. |
| |
November 01, 2010 |
Project 3 due. |
| |
December 13, 2010 |
Project 4 due.
|
| |
December 13, 2010 |
Course ends. Firm date. |
Notes:
tbd
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List of all courses.
Contact Information
- My Name: Dr. Paul E. MacNeil (Atlanta, Macon and DL Section)
- My E-mail: macneil_pe@mercer.edu
.
- My Office Phone: 478 301-2185
- My FAX: 478 301-2732
- US Mail:
-
-
- Dr. Paul E. MacNeil
- School of Engineering
- Mercer University
- 1400 Coleman Ave.
- Macon, GA 31207
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Important Additional Information:
"Students requiring accommodations for a disability should
inform the instructor at the close of the first class meeting or
as soon as possible. The instructor will refer you to the
Disability Support Services Coordinator to document your
disability, determine eligibility for accommodations under the
ADAAA/Section 504 and to request a Faculty Accommodation Form.
Disability accommodations or status will not be indicated on
academic transcripts. In order to receive accommodations in a
class, students with sensory, learning, psychological, physical
or medical disabilities must provide their instructor with a
Faculty Accommodation Form to sign. Students must return the
signed form to the Disability Services Coordinator. A new form
must be requested each semester. Students with a history of a
disability, perceived as having a disability or with a current
disability who do not wish to use academic accommodations are
also strongly encouraged to register with the Disability
Services Coordinator and request a Faculty Accommodation Form
each semester. For further information, please contact Carole
Burrowbridge, Disability Services Coordinator, at 301-2778 or
visit the Disability Support Services website at http://www.mercer.edu/studentaffairs/disabilityservices"
* (10/09)
Accreditation: Mercer University is accredited by SACS.