Rapid Re-Evolution of an X-Band Antenna for Nasa’s Space Technology 5 Mission
Jason D. Lohn, Gregory S. Hornby, Derek S. Linden · Kluwer Academic Publishers eBooks · 2006
One of the challenges in engineering design is adapting a set of created designs to a change in requirements. Previously we presented two four-arm, symmetric, evolved antennas for NASA’s Space Technology 5 mission. However, the mission’s orbital vehicle was changed, putting it into a much lower earth orbit, changing the specifications for the mission. With minimal changes to our evolutionary system, mostly in the fitness function, we were able to evolve antennas for the new mission requirements and, within one month of this change, two new antennas were designed and prototyped. Both antennas were tested and both had acceptable performance compared with the new specifications. This rapid response shows that evolutionary design processes are able to accommodate new requirements quickly and with minimal human effort.