Abstract
This paper presents YARS (Yet Another Robot Simulator), which was initially developed in the context of evolutionary robotics (ER), yet includes features which are also of benefit to those outside of this field. An experiment in YARS is defined by a single XML file, which includes the simulator configuration, the (randomisable) environment, and any number of (mobile) robots. Robots are either controlled through an automatised communication, or by dynamically loaded C++ programs. Therefore, YARS, although still under active development, is comparable with commercial and open-source robot simulators which include a physics engine such as Webots and Breve but with a much stronger focus on requirements originating from the field of evolutionary robotics.
Keywords
- Recurrent Neural Network
- Description Language
- Real Robot
- Evolve Controller
- Real Hardware
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Floreano, D., Urzelai, J.: Evolutionary robots with on-line self-organization and behavioral fitness. Neural Netw. 13(4-5), 431–443 (2000)
Michel, O.: Khepera simulator 2.0 (last visited: August 2008), http://diwww.epfl.ch/lami/team/michel/khep-sim/
Michel, O.: Webots (last visited: August 2008), http://www.cyberbotics.com/products/webots/
Leger, C.: Darwin2k (last visited: August 2008), http://darwin2k.sourceforge.net/
MSC Software: Adams (last visited: August 2008), http://www.mscsoftware.com/products/adams.cfm
Yobotics Inc.: Yobotics website (last visited: August 2008), http://yobotics.com/
Koenig, N., Polo, J.: Gazebo (last visited: August 2008), http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/index.php?src=gazebo
Klein, J.: breve: a 3d simulation environment for the simulation of decentralized systems and artificial life. In: Proceedings of Artificial Life VIII, the 8th International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Sydney, Australia. MIT Press, Cambridge (2002)
Carpin, S., Lewis, M., Wang, J., Balakirsky, S., Scrapper, C.: Usarsim: a robot simulator for research and education. In: Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation (2007)
Michel, O.: Webots: Professional mobile robot simulation. Journal of Advanced Robotics Systems 1(1), 39–42 (2004)
von Twickel, A., Pasemann, F.: Reflex-oscillations in evolved single leg neurocontrollers for walking machines. Natural Computing 6(3), 311–337 (2007)
Manoonpong, P.: Neural Preprocessing and Control of Reactive Walking Machines Towards Versatile Artificial Perception-Action Systems. In: Cognitive Technologies. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Markelić, I., Zahedi, K.: An evolved neural network for fast quadrupedal locomotion. In: Xie, M., Dubowsky, S. (eds.) Advances in Climbing and Walking Robots, Proceedings of 10th International Conference (CLAWAR 2007), pp. 65–72. World Scientific Publishing Company, Singapore (2007)
Popp, J.: sphericalrobots (last visited: August 2008), http://www.sphericalrobots.org
Wischmann, S., Hülse, M., Pasemann, F.: (Co)Evolution of (de)centralized neural control for a gravitationally driven machine. Advances in Artificial Life, 179–188 (2005)
Smith, R.: ODE (last visited: August 2008), http://www.ode.org
Geng, T., Porr, B., Wörgötter, F.: Fast biped walking with a sensor-driven neuronal controller and real-time online learning. The International Journal of Robotics Research 25(3), 243–259 (2006)
Ghazi-Zahedi, K.M.: Self-Regulating Neurons. A model for synaptic plasticity in artificial recurrent neural networks. PhD thesis, University of Osnabrück (2008)
Zahedi, K., Hülse, M.: ISEE – integrated structure envolution environment (last visited: August 2008), http://sourceforge.net/projects/isee/
Hülse, M., Wischmann, S., Pasemann, F.: Structure and function of evolved neuro-controllers for autonomous robots. Connection Science 16(4), 294–296 (2004)
Laue, T., Spiess, K., Röfer, T.: Simrobot — a general physical robot simulator and its application in robocup. In: Bredenfeld, A., Jacoff, A., Noda, I., Takahashi, Y. (eds.) RoboCup 2005. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4020, pp. 173–183. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)
Mayer, N., Boedecker, J., da Silva Guerra, R., Obst, O., Asada, M.: 3d2real: Simulation league finals in real robots. In: RoboCup 2006: Robot Soccer World Cup X, pp. 25–34 (2007)
Clark, J., Lipkin, D., Marsh, J., Thompson, H., Walsh, N., Zilles, S.: XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 1.0. W3C (1999)
The RoboCup Federation: Robocup official site (last visited: August 2008), http://www.robocup.org
Sony: Sony aibo europe (last visited: August 2008), http://support.sony-europe.com/aibo/
Röfer, T., Laue, T., Burkhard, H.D., Hoffmann, J., Jüngel, M., Göhring, D., Düffert, U., Spranger, M., Altmeyer, B., Goetzke, V., von Stryk, O., Brunn, R., Dassler, M., Kunz, M., Risler, M., Stelzer, M., Thomsas, D., Uhrig, S., Schwiegelshohn, U., Dahm, I., Hebbel, M., Nistico, W., Schumann, C., Wachter, M.: Germanteam 2004 (2004) (last visited: August 2008), http://www.germanteam.org/GT2004.pdf
Zahedi, K., Pasemann, F.: Adaptive behavior control with self-regulating neurons. In: Lungarella, M., Iida, F., Bongard, J.C., Pfeifer, R. (eds.) 50 Years of Aritficial Intelligence. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4850, pp. 196–205. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Ashby, W.R.: Desgin for a brain. Chapman & Hall Ltd., London (1954)
Bender, J.: Impulse-based dynamic simulation (last visited: August 2008), http://www.impulse-based.de/
Persistence of Vision Raytracer Pty. Ltd.: Povray – the persistence of vision raytracer (last visited: August 2008), http://www.povray.org/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Zahedi, K., von Twickel, A., Pasemann, F. (2008). YARS: A Physical 3D Simulator for Evolving Controllers for Real Robots. In: Carpin, S., Noda, I., Pagello, E., Reggiani, M., von Stryk, O. (eds) Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots. SIMPAR 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 5325. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89076-8_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89076-8_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-89075-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-89076-8
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)