Crawling Out of the Simulation: Evolving Real Robot Morphologies Using Cheap, Reusable Modules

Abstract

A current issue in evolutionary robotics involves the coevolution of robot controllers and body morphologies built from modular parts. As part of ongoing research, a model for the evolution of the morphologies and neural network controllers of robots is described. Several robots are evolved for locomotion in simulation built from modules representing cheap, preexisting parts and one is physically built that has comparable behaviour with its original simulated version. The behaviour in simulation of such example robots is described. A brief comparison is made between the behaviour of a simulated robot whose design and behaviour has been evolved and its physically instantiated counterpart.