Designing scientific instrumentation often requires exploring large, highly constrained design spaces using computationally expensive physics simulations. These simulators pose substantial challenges for integrating evolutionary computation (EC) into scientific design workflows. EC typically requires numerous design evaluations, making the integration of slow, low-throughput simulators challenging, as they are optimized for accuracy and ease of use rather than throughput. We present ECLIPSE, an evolutionary computation framework built to interface directly with complex, domain-specific simulation tools while supporting flexible geometric and parametric representations of scientific hardware. ECLIPSE provides a modular architecture consisting of (1) Individuals, which encode hardware designs using domain-aware, physically constrained representations; (2) Evaluators, which prepare simulation inputs, invoke external simulators, and translate the simulator's outputs into fitness measures; and (3) Evolvers, which implement EC algorithms suitable for this domain. We evolve solutions for two novel space-science applications: 3D antennas optimized for directional sensitivity and spacecraft geometries optimized for drag reduction. Notably, we identify antennas with directional sensitivity roughly comparable to the expected sensitivity of two-antenna interferometric arrays, representing potential cost-savings. ECLIPSE enables interdisciplinary teams of physicists, engineers, and EC researchers to collaboratively explore designs for scientific hardware while leveraging existing domain-specific simulation software.

翻译：设计科学仪器通常需要在高度约束的设计空间中，利用计算成本高昂的物理模拟进行大规模探索。这类模拟器给将进化计算（EC）融入科学设计工作流程带来了重大挑战。EC通常需要大量设计评估，这使得集成低吞吐量的慢速模拟器变得困难——这些模拟器更侧重于精度和易用性而非吞吐量。我们提出ECLIPSE，一个进化计算框架，旨在直接与复杂的领域专用模拟工具交互，同时支持科学硬件的灵活几何与参数化表示。ECLIPSE采用模块化架构，包含：(1)个体，通过领域感知的物理约束编码硬件设计；(2)评估器，负责准备模拟输入、调用外部模拟器并将输出转化为适应度指标；(3)进化器，实现适用于该领域的EC算法。我们针对两个新型空间科学应用进化求解方案：优化方向灵敏度的三维天线，以及优化减阻效果的航天器几何结构。值得注意的是，我们识别出的天线方向灵敏度与双天线干涉阵列的预期灵敏度大致相当，这代表了潜在的成本节约。ECLIPSE使物理学家、工程师和EC研究人员组成的跨学科团队能够利用现有领域专用模拟软件，协作探索科学硬件的设计。