To grip, or not to grip: Evolving coordination in autonomous robots

Christos Ampatzis, Francisco Santos, Vito Trianni, Elio Tuci

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference Proceeding (Non-Journal item)

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Abstract

In evolutionary robotics, as in the animal world, performing a task which is beneficial to the entire group demands the coordination of different individuals. Whenever time-dependent dynamic allocation of roles is needed and individual roles are not pre-defined, coordination can often be hard to achieve. In this paper, we study the evolution of role allocation and self-assembling strategies in a group of two homogeneous robots.We show how robot coordination and individual choices (who will grip whom) can be successfully restated in terms of anti-coordination problems, showing how conventional game theoretical tools can be used in the interpretation and design of evolutionary outcomes in collective robotics. Moreover, we highlight and discuss striking similarities between the way our physical robots allocate roles and the way animals solve conflicts. Arguably, these similarities suggest that evolutionary robotics may offer apart from automatic controller design for autonomous robots a viable alternative for the study of biological phenomena.;In evolutionary robotics, as in the animal world, performing a task which is beneficial to the entire group demands the coordination of different individuals. Whenever time-dependent dynamic allocation of roles is needed and individual roles are not pre-defined, coordination can often be hard to achieve. In this paper, we study the evolution of role allocation and self-assembling strategies in a group of two homogeneous robots.We show how robot coordination and individual choices (who will grip whom) can be successfully restated in terms of anti-coordination problems, showing how conventional game theoretical tools can be used in the interpretation and design of evolutionary outcomes in collective robotics. Moreover, we highlight and discuss striking similarities between the way our physical robots allocate roles and the way animals solve conflicts. Arguably, these similarities suggest that evolutionary robotics may offer apart from automatic controller design for autonomous robots a viable alternative for the study of biological phenomena.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Artificial Life. Darwin Meets von Neumann
Subtitle of host publication10th European Conference, ECAL 2009, Budapest, Hungary, September 13-16, 2009, Revised Selected Papers, Part I
EditorsGeorge Kampis, István Karsai, Eörs Szathmáry
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages205-212
Volume5777
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-642-21283-3
ISBN (Print)978-3-642-21282-6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Event10th European Conference, ECAL - Budapest, Hungary
Duration: 13 Sept 200916 Sept 2009

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science
PublisherSpringer Berlin Heidelberg
Volume5777
ISSN (Print)0302-9743

Conference

Conference10th European Conference, ECAL
Country/TerritoryHungary
CityBudapest
Period13 Sept 200916 Sept 2009

Keywords

  • anti-coordination game
  • evolutionary robotics
  • collective behavior
  • evolutionary game theory

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