Abstract
Animals have inspired numerous studies on robot locomotion, but the problem of how autonomous robots can learn to take advantage of multimodal locomotion remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we study how a robot with two different means of locomotion can effective learn when to use each one based only on the limited information it can obtain through its onboard sensors. We conduct a series of simulation-based experiments using a task where a wheeled robot capable of jumping has to navigate to a target destination as quickly as possible in environments containing obstacles. We apply evolutionary techniques to synthesize neural controllers for the robot, and we analyze the evolved behaviors. The results show that the robot succeeds in learning when to drive and when to jump. The results also show that, compared with unimodal locomotion, multimodal locomotion allows for simpler and higher performing behaviors to evolve.
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Parrot MiniDrone Jumping Sumo, URL: http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/jumping-sumo/.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the financial support of ISCTE-IUL. Also, this work was partly supported by FCT – Foundation of Science and Technology under grant UID/EEA/50008/2013.
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Ramos, R., Duarte, M., Oliveira, S.M., Christensen, A.L. (2016). Evolving Controllers for Robots with Multimodal Locomotion. In: Tuci, E., Giagkos, A., Wilson, M., Hallam, J. (eds) From Animals to Animats 14. SAB 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9825. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43488-9_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43488-9_30
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