Evolving flexible joint morphologies

Abstract

Transferring virtual robotic designs into physical robots has become possible with the development of 3D printers. Accurately simulating the performance of real robots in a virtual environment requires modeling a variety of conditions, including the physical composition of the robots themselves. In this paper, we investigate how modeling material flexibility through the use of a passive joint affects the resulting arm morphology and gait of a crawling virtual robot. Results indicate that flexibility can be a beneficial characteristic of robotic morphology design while also providing insight into the benefits of modeling material properties in a simulation environment.