Nebulous

Cross-cutting themes

• Generative and evolutionary design for hardware
  Nebulous treats hardware concepts as evolving populations of candidates. Using evolutionary algorithms, genetic operators, and modular geometry encodings, we automatically generate and refine families of designs rather than hand-tuning a single option, enabling discovery of architectures that are difficult to reach by intuition alone.
• Multi-objective optimization and trade-space exploration
  Our problems are inherently multi-objective: we balance gain, bandwidth, drag, deployability, mass, power, and manufacturability under mission constraints. We use multi-objective optimization to map the trade space and produce Pareto fronts, giving engineers a structured view of the design landscape instead of a single “black box” answer.
• Physics-based evaluation and mission-context simulation
  Candidate designs are evaluated with physics-based tools and, when needed, science-grade Monte Carlo or digital-twin simulations of the environment where the hardware will operate. This keeps the optimization loop tied to actual mission conditions instead of abstract figures of merit.
• Human-in-the-loop design and interpretable outputs
  Nebulous is built to support engineers, not replace them. We emphasize interpretable outputs—design families, sensitivity studies, and annotated candidate shortlists—so that human experts can understand why certain designs emerge and how they trade against established options.
• Reusable software infrastructure (ECLIPSE)
  The ECLIPSE framework underpins all Nebulous projects, providing shared evolutionary algorithms, geometry encodings, solver interfaces, and orchestration tools. A key research theme is extending ECLIPSE so that new classes of instruments can be brought into the framework with minimal additional effort.

Active lines of work

Nebulous currently focuses on several application areas, all built on top of the ECLIPSE framework. Each effort is at a different level of maturity, but all share the same goal: generate requirement-driven, buildable designs that can better support prototyping and future mission infusion.

Additional application areas will be added as new collaborations form and science questions emerge, with ECLIPSE providing a common foundation across the broader Nebulous effort.