Morphogenetic robotics
[Y. Jin and Y. Meng]
Morphogenetic robotics: An emerging new field in developmental robotics
''IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C: Applications and Reviews'', 41(2):145-160, 2011 generally refers to the methodologies that address challenges in robotics inspired by biological
morphogenesis
Morphogenesis (from the Greek ''morphê'' shape and ''genesis'' creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of deve ...
.
Background
Differences to epigenetic
Morphogenetic robotics is related to, but differs from,
epigenetic robotics
Developmental robotics (DevRob), sometimes called epigenetic robotics, is a scientific field which aims at studying the developmental mechanisms, architectures and constraints that allow lifelong and open-ended learning of new skills and new knowle ...
. The main difference between morphogenetic robotics and epigenetic robotics is that the former focuses on
self-organization
Self-organization, also called spontaneous order in the social sciences, is a process where some form of overall order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process can be spontaneous when suffic ...
, self-reconfiguration, self-assembly and self-adaptive control of robots using genetic and cellular mechanisms inspired from biological early morphogenesis (''activity-independent development''), during which the body and controller of the organisms are developed simultaneously, whereas the latter emphasizes the development of robots' cognitive capabilities, such as language, emotion and social skills, through experience during the lifetime (''activity-dependent development''). Morphogenetic robotics is closely connected to
developmental biology
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and differentiation of ste ...
and
systems biology
Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...
, whilst epigenetic robotics is related to
developmental cognitive neuroscience
Developmental cognitive neuroscience is an interdisciplinary scientific field devoted to understanding psychological processes and their neurological bases in the developing organism. It examines how the mind changes as children grow up, interrelat ...
emerged from
cognitive science,
developmental psychology and
neuroscience
Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...
.
Topics
Morphogenetic robotics includes, but is not limited to the following main topics:
* "Morphogenetic swarm robotics" deals with the self-organization of multi-robots using genetic and cellular mechanisms governing the biological early morphogenesis;
* "Morphogenetic
modular robot
Modular self-reconfiguring robotic systems or self-reconfigurable modular robots are autonomous kinematic machines with variable morphology. Beyond conventional actuation, sensing and control typically found in fixed-morphology robots, self-reconf ...
s" are when modular robots adapt their configuration autonomously using morphogenetic principles;
* "Developmental approaches" deals with the design of the body plan of robots, such as sensors and actuators, as well as the design of the controller, e.g., a neural controller using a generative coding gene regulatory network model.
[J. Yin, Y. Meng and Y. Jin]
A developmental approach to structural self-organization in reservoir computing
''IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development'', 2012
See also
*
Artificial life
Artificial life (often abbreviated ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemist ...
*
Cognitive robotics
Cognitive Robotics or Cognitive Technology is a subfield of robotics concerned with endowing a robot with intelligent behavior by providing it with a processing architecture that will allow it to learn and reason about how to behave in response t ...
*
Developmental robotics
Developmental robotics (DevRob), sometimes called epigenetic robotics, is a scientific field which aims at studying the developmental mechanisms, architectures and constraints that allow lifelong and open-ended learning of new skills and new knowle ...
*
Evolutionary robotics Evolutionary robotics is an embodied approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in which robots are automatically designed using Darwinian principles of natural selection. The design of a robot, or a subsystem of a robot such as a neural controller, ...
*
Evolutionary developmental robotics
*
Modular design
Modular design, or modularity in design, is a design principle that subdivides a system into smaller parts called ''modules'' (such as modular process skids), which can be independently created, modified, replaced, or exchanged with other modules ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
A website on Morphogenetic Robotics maintained by Prof. Yaochu JinEC FP7 Project: SWARM-ORGANEuropean Projects: Symbiotic Evolutionary Robot Organisms (SYMBRION)and Robotic Evolutionary Self-Programming and Self-Assembling Organisms (REPLICATOR)
* ttp://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/ Cornell Computational Synthesis Laboratory of Prof. Hod Lipsonbr>Dynamic and Evolutionary Machine Organization Lab of Prof. John Pollack
Robotics
Modular design