1. Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution
Strategy (CMA-ES)
BY:
OSAMA SALAH ELDIN
UNDER SUPERVISION:
PROF. MAGDA B. FAYEK
6/3/2016 CAIRO UNIVERSITY - COMPUTER ENGINEERING - 2015

2. Outline
oWhat is Optimization?
oWhat is an Evolution Strategy?
oStep-size Adaptation
oCumulative step-size adaptation
oCovariance Matrix Adaptation
oApplication - Modeling
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3. What is optimization?
oOptimization is the minimization or the maximization of a function
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y=f(x)
Global MinimumLocal Minimum xLocal Minimum

4. What is optimization?
oTry to solve these problems:
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x = 2
x3 – 8 = 0

5. What is optimization?
oTry to solve these problems:
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x=3, y=2
x2 + 3.y – 15 = 0

6. What is optimization?
oTry to solve these problems:
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x=3, y=2, z=2
x2 + y + 2.z – 15 = 0

7. What is optimization?
oTry to solve these problems:
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8. What is optimization?
oTry to solve these problems:
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Can one try all combinations??
This is not recommended

9. What is optimization?
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Use an evolution strategy

10. Outline
oWhat is Optimization?
oWhat is an Evolution Strategy?
oStep-size Adaptation
oCumulative step-size adaptation
oCovariance Matrix Adaptation
oApplication - Modeling
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11. 6/3/2016 CAIRO UNIVERSITY - COMPUTER ENGINEERING - 2015 11
What is an Evolution Strategy?

12. What is an Evolution Strategy?
oIt is a technique that searches for the optimum solution in a search-space
oEvolution Strategies belong to the family of Evolutionary Computation
oEvolution strategy steps:
1. Generate a population of candidate solutions
2. Evaluate every individual in the population
3. Select parents from the fittest individuals
4. Reproduce offspring of the next generation (Recombination & mutation)
5. Repeat until a termination criterion is met
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13. Evolution Strategies VS. Genetic Algorithms
ES GA
Initial Population
Random mutations of the
initial guess
Random or seeded
Evaluation Objective Function Fitness (Evaluation) Function
Selection Truncation Selection Different methods
Reproduction Recombination + Mutation Crossover + Mutation
Termination Almost similar stop conditions
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14. What is an Evolution Strategy? - Example
1. Generate a population of candidate solutions
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y=f(x)
x

15. fitness
What is an Evolution Strategy? - Example
2. Evaluate every individual in the population
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y=f(x)
x

16. fitness
What is an Evolution Strategy? - Example
3. Select parents from the fittest individuals
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y=f(x)
x

17. What is an Evolution Strategy? - Example
4. Reproduce offspring of the next generation (Recombination & mutation)
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y=f(x)
x

18. What is an Evolution Strategy? - Example
5. Repeat until a termination criterion is met
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y=f(x)
xEvaluate & Select

19. What is an Evolution Strategy? - Example
5. Repeat until a termination criterion is met
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y=f(x)
xEvaluate & SelectReproduce

20. What is an Evolution Strategy? - Example
5. Repeat until a termination criterion is met
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y=f(x)
x
Optimum Solution
Evaluate – Select – ReproduceReproduceTerminate

21. The Basic Evolution Strategy
oThe basic evolution strategy is defined by:
(µ/ρ, λ)-ES and (µ/ρ+ λ)-ES
Where:
µ The number of selected individuals per generation
ρ The number of parents (selected from µ) involved in recombination (≤ µ)
λ The number of individuals per generation (population size)
, Comma Selection  µ parents are selected from the λ individuals
+ Plus Selection  µ parents are selected from the λ individuals + the
current ρ parents
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22. The Basic Evolution Strategy - Example
(10/6 , 50)-ES
Select the fittest 10 individuals from the 50 individuals of the current
population, and select 6 random ones from them. Recombine these 6
parents to generate 50 new offspring
(10/6 + 50)-ES
Select the fittest 10 individuals from the 50 individuals of the current
population along with their 6 parents, and select 6 random ones from them
all (from the 56). Recombine these 6 parents to generate 50 new offspring
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23. The structure of an Individual
Object Parameter Vector (Y) Strategy Parameter Vector (S) Individual’s Fitness (F)
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Y The candidate solution of the problem (e.g. (x, y) point)
S The parameters used by the strategy (e.g. mutation strength)
F The fitness of the candidate solution y as measured by the fitness
function (i.e. the value of the objective function)
Y = {x1, x2, z}

24. The structure of an Individual
Object Parameter Vector (Y) Strategy Parameter Vector (S) Individual’s Fitness (F)
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• Evolution strategies search for the optimum:
1. Solution: The highest fitness
2. Strategy Parameters: The fastest improvement
Two search spaces

25. ES Steps
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1- Initial Solution

26. 2 - Initial Population
ES Steps
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1- Initial Solution

27. 2 - Initial Population
ES Steps
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3 - Evaluation 1- Initial Solution

28. 3 - Evaluation4 - Selection
ES Steps
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µ = 4 ρ=1 2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution

29. 5 - Reproduction
ES Steps
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection

30. 5 - Reproduction
ES Steps
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection

31. ES Steps
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5 - Reproduction

32. ES Steps
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5 - Reproduction

33. 6 - Termination
ES Steps
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
Optimum Solution
5 - Reproduction

34. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
• An initial guess, should be as close as possible to
the expected solution
6 - Termination
5 - Reproduction

35. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
• The intial population is generated by mutating the
initial solution
6 - Termination
5 - Reproduction

36. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
• Every individual is evaluated by the objective
function
6 - TerminationBest Fitness = 0
5 - Reproduction

37. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
• Truncation Selection is used
6 - Termination
5 - Reproduction
Select the fittest µ individuals
Drop the other individuals

38. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5 - Reproduction
6 - Termination
Recombination
Reproduction
Mutation
Combining two or more
parents to produce a mean
for the new generation
Adding normally-
distributed random vectors
to the new mean

39. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5 - Reproduction
6 - Termination
Recombination
S1 F11 3
S2 F24 6
Solution Strategy Parameters
S32.5 4.5
A simple recombination is taking the average
P1
P2
Fitness
To be calculated

40. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5 - Reproduction
6 - Termination
Recombination
ρ = 2 ρ = 4

41. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5 - Reproduction
6 - Termination
Recombination Mutation
Reproduction
Combining two or more
parents to produce a mean
for the new generation
Adding normally-
distributed random vectors
to the new mean

42. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5.5 8.0Parent
RX1 RY1
Generate λ normally-distributed
random vectors
RX2 RY2
RX3 RY3
5.5 + RX1 8.0 + RY1
5.5 + RX2 8.0 + RY2
5.5 + RX3 8.0 + RY3
Add each of the λ mutating vectors
to the initial solution 6 - Termination
5 - Reproduction
Mutation
Recombination

43. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5.5 8.0
RX1 RY1
RX2 RY2
RX3 RY3
RX1
RY1
5.5 + RX1 8.0 + RY1
5.5 + RX2 8.0 + RY2
5.5 + RX3 8.0 + RY3
RX2
RY2
RX3
RY3
5 - Reproduction
Mutation
6 - Termination
Recombination
(5.5, 8.0)

44. The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
5.5 8.0
RX1 RY1
RX2 RY2
RX3 RY3
5.5 + RX1 8.0 + RY1
5.5 + RX2 8.0 + RY2
5.5 + RX3 8.0 + RY3
RX1
RY1
RX2
RY2
RX3
RY3
5 - Reproduction
6 - Termination
Recombination
Mutation

45. 6 - Termination
Mutation vectors are
normally – distributed
around their parent
Recombination
5 - Reproduction
The Basic Evolution Strategy
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
Repeat
Mutation

46. Outline
oWhat is Optimization?
oWhat is an Evolution Strategy?
oStep-size Adaptation
oCumulative step-size adaptation
oCovariance Matrix Adaptation
oApplication - Modeling
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47. Step-size Adaptation (σSA-ES)
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Many small steps

48. Step-size Adaptation (σSA-ES)
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49. Step-size Adaptation (σSA-ES)
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These gaps are
unrealistic
Why ??

50. Step-size Adaptation (σSA-ES)
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The parent of a generation is
an individual in the previous
generation

51. Step-size Adaptation (σSA-ES)
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52. Step-size Adaptation (σSA-ES)
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53. 6 - Termination
Recombination
5 - Reproduction
The Basic Evolution Strategy - Revisited
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
Mutation
Mutation

54. The Gaussian (Normal) Distribution
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N ( µ , σ2)
Mean
(Standard Deviation)2
= Variance
≡ µ + σ.N (0, 1)
µ + σ.N (0, I)
Multivariate

55. 6 - Termination
Recombination
5 - Reproduction
The Basic Evolution Strategy - Revisited
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2 - Initial Population
1- Initial Solution
3 - Evaluation
4 - Selection
Mutation
Mutation
Step-size

56. The Gaussian (Normal) Distribution
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σ=1.0σ=1.5σ=2.0σ=2.5

57. Step-size Adaptation (σSA-ES)
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Object Parameter Vector (Y) Individual’s Fitness (F)
Strategy Parameter Vector (S)
σ
n = length(Y): Problem dimension

58. Outline
oWhat is Optimization?
oWhat is an Evolution Strategy?
oStep-size Adaptation
oCumulative step-size adaptation
oCovariance Matrix Adaptation
oApplication - Modeling
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59. Cumulative Step-size Adaptation (CSA)
oStep-size Adaptation
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Increase step size Decrease step size

60. Cumulative Step-size Adaptation (CSA)
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1. Calculate the average 𝑍𝑡 of the fittest µ solutions
2. Calculate the cumulative path Pc at generation t
The parameter c is called the cumulation parameter, it determines how rapidly
the information stored in Pct fades. The typical value of c is between 1/n and 1/

61. Cumulative Step-size Adaptation (CSA)
3. Update the mutation strength (i.e. step-size)
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The damping parameter dσ determines how much the step-size can
change. (Normally, it is set to 1)
Where ||𝑋||‖ is the Euclidean norm of the vector =

62. Cumulative Step-size Adaptation (CSA)
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Object Parameter Vector (Y) σ Individual’s Fitness (F)

63. Outline
oWhat is Optimization?
oWhat is an Evolution Strategy?
oStep-size Adaptation
oCumulative step-size adaptation
oCovariance Matrix Adaptation
oApplication - Modeling
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64. Promising
individuals
Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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65. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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66. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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67. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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68. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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N (0, I) N (0, C)
How??
Adapt the Covariance MatrixIdentity Matrix

69. Covariance-Matrix
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70. Covariance-Matrix
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71. Covariance-Matrix
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72. Covariance-Matrix
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73. Covariance-Matrix
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74. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
oTo which direction should the population be directed?
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VarianceCovariance

75. oVariance is a measure of how far a variable changes away from its mean
Variance
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, 𝑋 is the mean of the samples of X

76. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Variance
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High Variance
Low Variance
mean
mean

77. oCovariance is a measure of how two variables change together
Covariance
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78. Covariance
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(a)
(c)
Cov(a, c) = -3.0091
(b)
Cov(a, b) = 8.3909

79. Covariance-Matrix
oIt is a matrix whose (i, j) element is the covariance between the ith and the
jth variables
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80. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
oTo which direction should the population be directed?
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Variance=σ2Covariance

81. Principal Component
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oCMA-ES performs a type of Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
oPrincipal Component: The principal variable (component) is equivalent to the
principal player:
1. High Variance
2. Low Covariance with other
components
 Distinct, or very special

82. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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oTo which direction should the population be directed?
 Towards the principal component

83. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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• The optimum solution is (5, 50)
 A practical run of CMA-ES x
• The population moves faster
towards the direction of the
second component (50)
• The initial guess is (0, 0)

84. Covariance-Matrix Adaptation (CMA)
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optimum (5, 50)
Initial (0, 0)
generation
Variance
(σ2)
Step-size

85. CMA-ES (Steps)-1
oInitial Values
◦ C = I (n x n Identity Matrix)
◦ An initial guess m (n x 1 mean of the initial population)
◦ An initial step size (n x 1 standard-deviation matrix)
1. Generate λ offspring by mutating the mean m:
2. Evaluate the λ offspring
3. Sort the offspring by fitness so that:
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Fittest Individual

86. CMA-ES (Steps)-2
4. Update the mean m of the population
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 Weighted average
The constants wi are selected such that:
µ is the number of parents

87. CMA-ES (Steps)-3
5. Update step-size cumulation path 𝑃 𝜎 :
, where:
 The random vector that generated the individual xi:λ
◦ cσ : Decay rate for evolution path for step-size σ (≈ 4/n)
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88. CMA-ES (Steps)-4
6. Update the covariance-matrix cumulation path Pc ∈ ℝ(nx1):
cc: Decay rate for evolution path of C
7. Update the step-size σ:
Where ||X|| is the Euclidean norm of the vector X(m) =
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89. CMA-ES (Steps)-5
8. Update the covariance matrix C:
c1: Learning rate for rank-one update of C(≈ 2/n2)
cµ: Learning rate for rank-µ update of C (≈ µw/n2)
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Repeat the previous steps until a satisfying solution is found or a maximum
number of generations is exceeded or no significant improvement is
achieved

90. Advantages of CMA-ES
oCMA-ES can outperform other strategies in the following cases:
◦ Non-separable problems (the parameters of the objective function are
dependent)
◦ The derivative of the objective function is not available
◦ High dimension problems (n is large)
◦ Very large search spaces
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91. CMA-ES Limitations
oCMA-ES can be outperformed by other strategies in the following cases:
◦ Partly separable problems (i.e. optimization of n-dimension objective
function can be divided into a series of n optimizations of every single
parameter)
◦ The derivative of the objective function is easily available (Gradient
Descend / Ascend)
◦ Small dimension problems
◦ Problems that can be solved using a relatively small number of function
evaluations (e.g. < 10n evaluations)
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92. Outline
oWhat is Optimization?
oWhat is an Evolution Strategy?
oStep-size Adaptation
oCumulative step-size adaptation
oCovariance Matrix Adaptation
oApplication - Modeling
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93. Application - Modeling
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f(x)X y
2. Guess a model f(x) = a.x2 + b.x + c
1. Collect Samples
x1
x2
x3
.
.
xn
y1
y2
y3
.
.
yn
3. Optimize the model Find the optimum values of {a, b, c}

94. Application – Modeling in Robocode
Motion Model
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Find a model for this path

95. Application – Modeling in Robocode
Motion Model – Steps
1. Collect Samples: The (x, y) location of the enemy
2. Guess the model (using GA)
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3. Optimize the model

96. Application – Modeling in Robocode
Motion Model – Observations
oDifferent models give different human-like behaviors
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Careless Reckless Tricky

97. Using the Source Code
oThe source code (m-file for MATLAB) for CMA-ES (C, C++, Java, Fortran, Python,
R, Scilab, Matlab / Octave) is available at:
https://www.lri.fr/~hansen/cmaes_inmatlab.html
◦ purecmaes.m: Simple implementation
◦ cmaes.m: Production Code
1. Specify the initial values of the parameters (step-size, covariance matrix, initial
guess, population size … etc.)
2. Define your objective function
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function f=obj_func(x)
f = (calculate the error here) % e.g. f = x(1)^3 – 8;
Matlab /Octave

98. 3. Call the function Matlab /Octave
Using the Source Code
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>> function_mfile( parameters)

99. Questions
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osama.salah.eg@ieee.org

100. Thanks
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