Skip to main content

Task-Driven Evolution of Modular Self-reconfigurable Robots

  • Conference paper
From Animals to Animats 13 (SAB 2014)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 8575))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

In future space missions, versatile, robust, autonomous and adaptive robotic systems will be required to perform complex tasks. This can be realized using modular robots with the ability to reconfigure to various structures, which allows them to adapt to the environment as well as to a given task. As it is not possible to program beforehand the robots to cope with every possible situation, they will have to adapt autonomously. In this paper, we introduce a novel framework which allows modular robots to adapt physically (i.e., to change the structure) as well as internally (i.e. to learn the behavior) to achieve high-level tasks (e.g. ’climb-up the cliff’). The framework utilizes evolutionary methods for structure adaptation as well as to find a suitable behavior. The main idea of the framework is the utilization of simple motion skills combined by a motion planner to achieve the high-level task. This allows to achieve complex task easily without need to optimize complex behaviors of the robot.

The work in this paper was supported by MSMT grant No. 7AMV14DE007.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Bihlmaier, A., Winkler, L., Wörn, H.: Automated Planning as a New Approach for the Self-Reconfiguration of Mobile Modular Robots. In: Robot Motion and Control (RoMoCo) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Blum, C., Roli, A.: Metaheuristics in combinatorial optimization: Overview and conceptual comparison. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 35(3), 268–308 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Černý, J., Kubalík., J.: Co-evolutionary Approach to Design of Robotic Gait. In: Applications of Evolutionary Computation (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cui, Z.H., Zeng, J.C., Sun, G.J.: A fast particle swarm optimization. International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and Control 2(6), 1365–1380 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ijspeert, A.J.: Central pattern generators for locomotion control in animals and robots: A review. Neural Networks 21(4), 642–653 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Liedke, J., Matthias, R., Winkler, L., Wörn, H.: The Collective Self-Reconfigurable Modular Organism (CoSMO). In: Proceedings of IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2013) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Landis, G.A.: Robots and humans: synergy in planetary exploration. Acta Astronautica 55(12), 985–990 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Winkler, L., Kettler, A., Szymanski, M., Wörn, H.: The Robot Formation Language - A Formal Descriptions of Formations for Collective Robots. In: Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Swarm Intelligence 2011 (SIS 2011), pp. 102–109 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Winkler, L., Wörn, H., Friebel, A.: A Distance and Diversity Measure for Improving the Evolutionary Process of Modular Robot Organisms. In: Proceedings of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Biomimetics, ROBIO (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Winkler, L., Neumann, S., Wörn, H.: A Framework for the Automatic Generation of Self-Reconfigurable Robot Organisms and the Optimization of the Gait for these Organisms. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Control, Systems & Industrial Informatics(ICCSII 2013) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Winkler, L., Vonasek, V., Wörn, H., Preucil, L.: Robot3D - A Simulator for Mobile Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robots. In: IEEE Conference on Multisensor Fusion and Integration for Intelligent Systems (MFI) (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Marbach, D., Ijspeert, A.J.: Online optimization of modular robot locomotion. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, ICMA (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Moubarak, P., Ben-Tzvi, P.: Modular and reconfigurable mobile robotics. Robotics and Autonomous Systems 60(12), 1648–1663 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Pouya, S., Aydin, E., Möckel, R., Ijspeert, A.J.: Locomotion gait optimization for modular robots; coevolving morphology and control. Procedia Computer Science 7 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Sims, K.: Evolving virtual creatures. In: Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, pp. 15–22. ACM (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Vonásek, V., Saska, M., Košnar, K., Přeučil, L.: Global motion planning for modular robots with local motion primitives. In: ICRA (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Vonásek, V., Winkler, L., Liedke, J., Saska, M., Košnar, K., Přeučil, L.: Fast on-board motion planning for modular robots. In: ICRA (accepted, 2014)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Vonásek, V., Neumann, S., Winkler, L., Košnar, K., Wörn, H., Přeučil, L. (2014). Task-Driven Evolution of Modular Self-reconfigurable Robots. In: del Pobil, A.P., Chinellato, E., Martinez-Martin, E., Hallam, J., Cervera, E., Morales, A. (eds) From Animals to Animats 13. SAB 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8575. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08864-8_23

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08864-8_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08863-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08864-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics