Evolution Enterprises has developed a patent-pending system for genetic programming based on a concise, powerful set of operators which are particularly suitable for evolving programs for mathematical modeling. This system is a genetic programming system which is both simple and fast. This proposal describes the Phase I application of EvolutionÃs Automatic Program Generator (APGª) to create a mathematical model of chemical kinetics for propulsion reactions. In Phase I a prototype for a parallel architecture will be developed by using a Local Area Network to distribute processing across machines. In Phase II a finished version will be developed and a hardware design will be created to implement it in flexible logic componens or even a custom chip. This product will allow NASA to quickly determine which reactions are worth more detailed analysis. The system has many other applications which are of interest to NASA including the characterization of new materials both on earth and in a microgravity environment, automating spacecraft maneuvers, on-board planning, scheduling and resource allocation, and evolving hardware designs on demand.
Potential Commercial Applications:The first and closest commercial application of the APG is in chemical process control modeling. From there Evolution plans to diversify to such markets aerospace engineering, simulation, robotics and other industries where intelligent control technology is particularly useful. For such real-time applications a parallel version of the APG is absolutely necessary
