====Normalising Inputs====

Agency - along with some other ARDI products - uses a Normalisation Engine to convert the inputs you're getting into inputs suitable for feeding an AI.

In most cases, AIs need **normalised** inputs, meaning that they all have a similar numeric range.

Otherwise, large values (such as pressures, which often go over 1000kPa) would have a much larger impact on your AI than small values (such as ambient temperature, which range from 0-50). Instead, these values are both reduced to simple 0-1 values.

When creating an agent, you can specify the 'normalisation format' you'd like to use. At a very basic level, you can use the following...

^Format^Meaning^
|A|All inputs are automatically scaled between 0-1, except for those that cross between negative and positive numbers, which are scaled -1 to 1. Values that range between negative numbers and zero are inverted.|
|-1-1|All inputs are scaled to fit into a scale between -1 and +1|
|0-1|All inputs are scaled to fit in a range between 0-1|
|*|Inputs are **not scaled** and left as raw numbers|

For more information, you might want to see the [[norm:Welcome|Normalisation Engine]] documentation.

Note that the normalisation is performed //before the agent is executed//, so if you're normalising your values you'll need to ensure any parameters you provide the Agent are also normalised. 

For legacy reasons, **-1-1** is the default normalisation method.