Getting Started¶
Installation¶
Using pip, you can install adopy from PyPI.
pip install adopy
Instead, you can install the developmental version in the GitHub repository.
git clone https://github.com/adopy/adopy.git
cd adopy
git checkout develop
pip install .
Quick-start guide¶
Here, we present how to use ADOpy to compute optimal designs for an experiment. Assuming an arbitrary task and a model, this section shows how users can apply the Adaptive Design Optimization procedure into their own tasks and models from the start.

A simple diagram for the Adaptive Design Optimization.¶
Step 1. Define a task using adopy.Task
¶
Assume that a user want to use ADOpy for an arbitrary task with two design
variables (x1
and x2
) where participants can make a binary choice on each
trial. Then, the task can be defined with adopy.Task
as described below:
from adopy import Task
task = Task(name='My New Experiment', # Name of the task (optional)
designs = ['x1', 'x2'], # Labels of design variables
responses = [0, 1]) # Possible responses
Step 2. Define a model using adopy.Model
¶
To predict partipants’ choices, here we assume a logistic regression model
that calculates the probability to make a positive response using three model
parameters (b0
, b1
, and b2
):
How to compute the probabilty \(p\) should be defined as a function:
import numpy as np
def calculate_prob(x1, x2, b0, b1, b2):
"""A function to compute the probability of a positive response."""
logit = b0 + x1 * b1 + x1 * b2
p_obs = 1. / (1 + np.exp(-logit))
return p_obs
Using the information and the function, the model can be defined with
adopy.Model
:
from adopy import Model
model = Model(name='My Logistic Model', # Name of the model (optional)
params=['b0', 'b1', 'b2'], # Labels of model parameters
func=calculate_prob) # A probability function
Step 3. Define grids for design variables and model parameters¶
Since ADOpy uses grid search to search the design space and parameter space, you must define a grid for design variables and model parameters. The grid can be defined using the labels (of design variables or model parameters) as its key and an array of the corresponding grid points as its value.
import numpy as np
grid_designs = {
'x1': np.linspace(0, 50, 100), # 100 grid points within [0, 50]
'x2': np.linspace(-20, 30, 100), # 100 grid points within [-20, 30]
}
grid_param = {
'b0': np.linspace(-5, 5, 100), # 100 grid points within [-5, 5]
'b1': np.linspace(-5, 5, 100), # 100 grid points within [-5, 5]
'b2': np.linspace(-5, 5, 100), # 100 grid points within [-5, 5]
}
Step 4. Initialize an engine using adopy.Engine
¶
Using the objects created so far, an engine should be initialized using
adopy.Engine
. It contains built-in functions to compute an
optimal design using ADO.
from adopy import Engine
engine = Engine(model=model, # a Model object
task=task, # a Task object
grid_design=grid_design, # a grid for design variables
grid_param=grid_param) # a grid for model parameters
Step 5. Compute a design using the engine¶
# Compute an optimal design based on the ADO
design = engine.get_design()
design = engine.get_design('optimal')
# Compute a randomly chosen design, as is typically done in non-ADO experiments
design = engine.get_design('random')
Step 6. Collect an observation in your experiment¶
# Get a response from a participant using your own code
response = ...
Step 7. Update the engine with the observation¶
# Update the engine with the design and the corresponding response
engine.update(design, response)
Step 8. Repeat Step 5 through Step 7 until the experiment is over¶
NUM_TRIAL = 100 # number of trials
for trial in range(NUM_TRIAL):
# Compute an optimal design for the current trial
design = engine.get_design('optimal')
# Get a response using the optimal design
response = ... # Using users' own codes
# Update the engine
engine.update(design, response)
More examples¶
There are more examples on how to use ADOpy for other experimental tasks.