Comparing direct and developmental encoding schemes in artificial evolution: a case study in evolving lens shapes

In this paper, different evolutionary encoding schemes were compared. In a simulator for geometrical optics different lens shapes in three dimensions were evolved using direct and indirect encodings. Direct and indirect methods were compared for their precision, convergence and efficiency. The results showed that the indirect encoding schemes converged faster than the direct ones, needed less genetic parameters and scientifically most important, it could be understood why the indirect scheme outperformed the direct one.