Evolutionary humanoid robotics: Past, present and future

Abstract

Evolutionary robotics is a methodology for the creation of autonomous robots using evolutionary principles. Humanoid robotics is concerned specifically with autonomous robots that are human-like in that they mimic the body or aspects of the sensory, processing and/or motor functions of humans to a greater or lesser degree. We investigate how these twin strands of advanced research in the field of autonomous mobile robotics have progressed over the last decade or so, and their current recent convergence in the new field of evolutionary humanoid robotics. We describe our current work in the evolution of controllers for bipedal locomotion in a simulated humanoid robot using an accurate physics simulator, and briefly discuss the effects of changes in robot mobility and of environmental changes. We then describe our current work in the implementation of these simulated robots using the Bioloid robot platform. We conclude with a look at possible visions for the future. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.