Adaptive Navigation Strategies in Evolutionary Robotics Controllers with Location Perception

Abstract

This research proposed augmenting Evolutionary Robotics controllers with their own robotic simulator. The motivation behind this idea is that the controller could use the simulator to approximate the effects of its actions. This would allow the controller to maintain an approximation of the robot's location and orientation. It was hypothesised that this information could enhance a controller's navigation ability. Both regular and augmented controllers were tested and compared on a task that required them to employ adaptive navigation strategies to efficiently solve the task. Augmented controllers were shown to perform better and possess superior behaviours in comparison to regular controllers.