
Show HN: Evolving Corals with Neuroevolution and Novelty Search - joelS
http://www.joelsimon.net/corals.html
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GistNoesis
Nice.

At least 5 years ago, I designed during a week-end project a coral-like
structure. You can find it on shapeways :
[https://www.shapeways.com/product/GRPT7WT7Z/sphere-
tree-12cm...](https://www.shapeways.com/product/GRPT7WT7Z/sphere-tree-12cm-
irregular-3-with-noise)

It doesn't take the same approach as you. But it still posed as an
optimization search. But as you have noticed, doing the full optimization
yields some regular structures, which are not as interesting. So the trick is
to stop it before convergence to get a richer structure with some
regularities.

In my case I constrained the various nodes and branch nodes on spheres, made
the tips spread out over the sphere, while preserving the tree structure, but
trying to shorten the branches. The resulting optimization problem gives the
upper entangled mesh which progressively gets untangled.

Fun little anecdote : when it was designed Shapeways pricing policy was cost
proportional to the volume of material used. My object being of wiry
structure, its manufacturing cost went at least x5 when they decided to count
the volume of the enclosing box.

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jlee124
I always appreciate it when someone also takes the time to design the
aesthetics of their research paper/post. Very interesting work!

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taneq
This is a very interesting mashup of different techniques - I was surprised to
see a neural network controlling growth but it produces some very convincing
results!

Given the way they're generated, is it possible to take several specimens and
'grow them together' so that they're shaped by mutual interactions? The way
you've modeled it makes it look like this might be an option.

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ianai
“Corals are not plants but rather colonies of genetically identical organisms
called polyps“

Talk about self similarity!

