29 research outputs found
On-line, On-board Evolution of Robot Controllers
International audienceThis paper reports on a feasibility study into the evolution of robot controllers during the actual operation of robots (on-line), using only the computational resources within the robots themselves (on-board). We identify the main challenges that these restrictions imply and propose mechanisms to handle them. The resulting algorithm is evaluated in a hybrid system, using the actual robots' processors interfaced with a simulator that represents the environment. The results show that the proposed algorithm is indeed feasible and the particular problems we encountered during this study give hints for further research
Open-Ended Evolutionary Robotics: an Information Theoretic Approach
This paper is concerned with designing self-driven fitness functions for
Embedded Evolutionary Robotics. The proposed approach considers the entropy of
the sensori-motor stream generated by the robot controller. This entropy is
computed using unsupervised learning; its maximization, achieved by an on-board
evolutionary algorithm, implements a "curiosity instinct", favouring
controllers visiting many diverse sensori-motor states (sms). Further, the set
of sms discovered by an individual can be transmitted to its offspring, making
a cultural evolution mode possible. Cumulative entropy (computed from ancestors
and current individual visits to the sms) defines another self-driven fitness;
its optimization implements a "discovery instinct", as it favours controllers
visiting new or rare sensori-motor states. Empirical results on the benchmark
problems proposed by Lehman and Stanley (2008) comparatively demonstrate the
merits of the approach
Simulating Kilobots within ARGoS: models and experimental validation
The Kilobot is a popular platform for swarm robotics research
due to its low cost and ease of manufacturing. Despite this, the effort to
bootstrap the design of new behaviours and the time necessary to develop
and debug new behaviours is considerable. To make this process less
burdensome, high-performing and flexible simulation tools are important.
In this paper, we present a plugin for the ARGoS simulator designed
to simplify and accelerate experimentation with Kilobots. First, the plugin
supports cross-compiling against the real robot platform, removing
the need to translate algorithms across different languages. Second, it is
highly configurable to match the real robot behaviour. Third, it is fast
and allows running simulations with several hundreds of Kilobots in a
fraction of real time. We present the design choices that drove our work
and report on experiments with physical robots performed to validate
simulated behaviours
From evolutionary computation to the evolution of things
Evolution has provided a source of inspiration for algorithm designers since the birth of computers. The resulting field, evolutionary computation, has been successful in solving engineering tasks ranging in outlook from the molecular to the astronomical. Today, the field is entering a new phase as evolutionary algorithms that take place in hardware are developed, opening up new avenues towards autonomous machines that can adapt to their environment. We discuss how evolutionary computation compares with natural evolution and what its benefits are relative to other computing approaches, and we introduce the emerging area of artificial evolution in physical systems
On-line Evolution of Foraging Behaviour in a Population of Real Robots
This paper describes a study in evolutionary robotics conducted completely in hardware without using simulations. The experiments employ on-line evolution, where robot controllers evolve on-the-fly in the robots’ environment as the robots perform their tasks. The main issue we consider is the feasibility of tackling a non-trivial task in a realistic timeframe. In particular, we investigate whether a population of six robots can evolve foraging behaviour in one hour. The experiments demonstrate that this is possible and they also shed light on some of the important features of our evolutionary system. Further to the specific results we also advocate the system itself. It provides an example of a replicable and affordable experimental set-up for other researches to engage in research into on-line evolution in a population of real robots