Evolutionary On-Line Self-Organization of Autonomous Robots

Abstract

We review recent experiments in evolutionary robotics carried out in dynamic environments and across different robotic platforms. We then introduce a new evolutionary approach where robots are evolved for their ability to adapt online. Several experiments show that this new approach is much faster, more powerful, and scalable than the traditional approach. 1 Evolutionary Robotics Autonomous robots are largely replacing computers as a metaphor for investigating natural and artificial intelligent systems because they interact with a real environment through sensors and actuators in a closed feedback loop, are subject to the laws of physics, operate in real-time, and are required to cope with partially unknown and unpredictable situations. Artificial evogenetic. method.eps 66 \\Theta 41 mm ... Mutation Crossover Selective reproduction Evaluation Population manager Figure 1: A single physical robot is connected to a host computer through a serial cable with rotating contacts. The ...