Evolutionary control of Lsystem interpretation

Abstract

An Lsystem or Lindenmayer system consists of a grammar and an interpreter. The grammar contains an axiom, usually a short string that the grammar expands into a long, complex string. The interpreter then renders the string into an object. The first use of Lsystems was to provide morphological models of plants. In this exploratory initial study, we use an evolutionary algorithm to evolve interpreters for Lsystems. The interpreter is a graphics turtle. For a given L-system the evolutionary algorithm tunes the turtle's parameter to cause it to drive in a constrained area of the Cartesian plane. Multiple Lsystems and planar regions are given. In some cases a startlingly small number of optima are located indicating a relatively simple fitness landscape.