Evolving a behavioral repertoire for a walking robot
File(s)evco_a_00143.pdf (2.52 MB)
Published version
OA Location
Author(s)
Cully, A
Mouret, J-B
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Numerous algorithms have been proposed to allow legged robots to learn to walk.However, most of these algorithms are devised to learn walking in a straight line,which is not sufficient to accomplish any real-world mission. Here we introduce theTransferability-based Behavioral Repertoire Evolution algorithm (TBR-Evolution), anovel evolutionary algorithm that simultaneously discovers several hundreds of simplewalking controllers, one for each possible direction. By taking advantage of solutionsthat are usually discarded by evolutionary processes, TBR-Evolution is substantiallyfaster than independently evolving each controller. Our technique relies on two meth-ods: (1) novelty search with local competition, which searches for both high-performingand diverse solutions, and (2) the transferability approach, which combines simulationsand real tests to evolve controllers for a physical robot. We evaluate this new techniqueon a hexapod robot. Results show that with only a few dozen short experiments per-formed on the robot, the algorithm learns a repertoire of controllers that allows therobot to reach every point in its reachable space. Overall, TBR-Evolution introduceda new kind of learning algorithm that simultaneously optimizes all the achievablebehaviors of a robot.
Date Issued
2016-03
Date Acceptance
2014-12-12
Citation
Evolutionary Computation, 2016, 24 (1), pp.59-88
ISSN
1063-6560
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press
Start Page
59
End Page
88
Journal / Book Title
Evolutionary Computation
Volume
24
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2016 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Subjects
cs.RO
01 Mathematical Sciences
08 Information And Computing Sciences
Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing
Publication Status
Published