Experiment Phase 0

To start the experiment, an absolutely random search was conducted to find a prototype design with which to seed evolution. Each random individual was generated by selecting the component between each pair of nodes uniformly at random from $\left\{ \mbox{\sc none, capacitor, junction, wire} \right\}$, then choosing the associated capacitances, resistances, $V_b$, $V_{true}$ and $V_{false}$ uniformly at random from their permitted ranges. 58470 random circuits were evaluated, and the best one chosen. At this very early stage, the fitness values could be dominated by worthless transient charging/discharging, so the evaluations were preceded by the simulation of an initial settling time of 0.3125$\mu$s. During the settling time, the input voltages were both at $V_{false}$ and the output was irrelevant. This settling time was not necessary during the evolutionary phases to follow.