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PubMed · 17110570

Resilient machines through continuous self-modeling.

Josh Bongard·Victor Zykov·Hod Lipson
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Abstract

Animals sustain the ability to operate after injury by creating qualitatively different compensatory behaviors. Although such robustness would be desirable in engineered systems, most machines fail in the face of unexpected damage. We describe a robot that can recover from such change autonomously, through continuous self-modeling. A four-legged machine uses actuation-sensation relationships to indirectly infer its own structure, and it then uses this self-model to generate forward locomotion. When a leg part is removed, it adapts the self-models, leading to the generation of alternative gaits. This concept may help develop more robust machines and shed light on self-modeling in animals.

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AlgorithmsAnimalsComputer SimulationRoboticsJournal ArticleResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

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Josh Bongard, Victor Zykov, Hod Lipson. 2006-11-17. Resilient machines through continuous self-modeling.. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1133687

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