{"id":172797,"date":"2021-02-07T15:04:08","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T12:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/these-self-sufficient-robots-can-have-babies-and-colonize-distant-planets\/"},"modified":"2021-02-07T15:04:08","modified_gmt":"2021-02-07T12:04:08","slug":"these-self-sufficient-robots-can-have-babies-and-colonize-distant-planets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/these-self-sufficient-robots-can-have-babies-and-colonize-distant-planets\/","title":{"rendered":"#These self-sufficient robots can have \u2018babies\u2019 and colonize distant planets"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ee3da2ae77\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ee3da2ae77\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/these-self-sufficient-robots-can-have-babies-and-colonize-distant-planets\/#Robots_rising\" >Robots rising<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/these-self-sufficient-robots-can-have-babies-and-colonize-distant-planets\/#Unnatural_selection\" >Unnatural selection<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/these-self-sufficient-robots-can-have-babies-and-colonize-distant-planets\/#Waste_disposal\" >Waste disposal<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#These self-sufficient robots can have \u2018babies\u2019 and colonize distant planets<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                            It\u2019s been suggested that an advance party of robots will be needed if humans are ever to settle on other planets. Sent ahead to create conditions favorable for humankind, these robots will need to be tough, adaptable, and recyclable if they\u2019re to survive within the inhospitable cosmic climates that await them.<\/p>\n<p>Collaborating with roboticists and computer scientists, my team and I have been working on just such a set of robots. Produced via 3D printer \u2013 and assembled autonomously \u2013 the robots we\u2019re creating continually evolve in order to rapidly optimize for the conditions they find themselves in.<\/p>\n<p>Our work represents the latest progress towards the kind of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ieeetv.ieee.org\/towards-the-autonomous-evolution-of-robotic-ecosystems\">autonomous robot ecosystems<\/a> that could help build humanity\u2019s future homes, far away from Earth and far away from human oversight.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Robots_rising\"><\/span>Robots rising<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Robots have come a long way since our first clumsy forays into artificial movement many decades ago. Today, companies such as Boston Dynamics produce <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bostondynamics.com\/handle\">ultra-efficient robots<\/a> that load trucks, build pallets, and move boxes around factories, undertaking tasks you might think only humans could perform.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these advances, designing robots to work in unknown or inhospitable environments \u2013 like exoplanets or deep ocean trenches \u2013 still poses a considerable challenge for scientists and engineers. Out in the cosmos, what shape and size should the ideal robot be? Should it crawl or walk? What tools will it need to manipulate its environment \u2013 and how will it survive extremes of pressure, temperature, and chemical corrosion?<\/p>\n<p><em>[Read:\u00a0<span dir=\"auto\">How much does it cost to buy, own, and run an EV? It\u2019s not as much as you think<\/span>]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>An impossible brainteaser for humans, nature has already solved this problem. Darwinian evolution has resulted in millions of species that are perfectly adapted to their environment. Although biological evolution takes millions of years, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.contactengine.com\/insights\/an-insider-s-guide-to-artificial-intelligence-evolutionary-computation\/\">artificial evolution<\/a> \u2013 modeling evolutionary processes inside a computer \u2013 can take place in hours, or even minutes. Computer scientists have been harnessing its power for decades, resulting in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/nature14544\">gas nozzles to satellite antennas<\/a> that are ideally suited to their function, for instance.<\/p>\n<p>But current artificial evolution of moving, physical objects still requires a great deal of human oversight, requiring a tight feedback loop between robot and human. If artificial evolution is to design a useful robot for exoplanetary exploration, we\u2019ll need to remove the human from the loop. In essence, evolved robot designs must manufacture, assemble and test themselves autonomously \u2013 untethered from human oversight.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Unnatural_selection\"><\/span>Unnatural selection<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Any evolved robots will need to be capable of sensing their environment and have diverse means of moving \u2013 for example using wheels, jointed legs, or even mixtures of the two. And to address the inevitable reality gap that occurs when transferring a design from software to hardware, it is also desirable for at least some evolution to take place in hardware \u2013 within an ecosystem of robots that evolve in <span style=\"background-color: rgba(46, 146, 255, 0.2);\">real-time<\/span>\u00a0and real space.<\/p>\n<p>The Autonomous Robot Evolution (<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.york.ac.uk\/robot-lab\/are\/\">ARE<\/a>) project addresses exactly this, bringing together scientists and engineers from four universities in an ambitious four-year project to develop this radical new <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As depicted above, robots will be \u201cborn\u201d through the use of 3D manufacturing. We use a new kind of hybrid <span style=\"background-color: rgba(46, 146, 255, 0.2);\">hardware-software<\/span> evolutionary architecture for design. That means that every physical robot has a digital clone. Physical robots are performance-tested in <span style=\"background-color: rgba(46, 146, 255, 0.2);\">real-world<\/span>\u00a0environments, while their digital clones enter a software program, where they undergo rapid simulated evolution. This hybrid system introduces a novel type of evolution: new generations can be produced from a union of the most successful traits from a virtual \u201cmother\u201d and a physical \u201cfather.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As well as being rendered in our simulator, \u201cchild\u201d robots produced via our hybrid evolution are also 3D-printed and introduced into a <span style=\"background-color: rgba(46, 146, 255, 0.2);\">real-world<\/span>, creche-like environment. The most successful individuals within this physical training center make their \u201cgenetic code\u201d available for reproduction and for the improvement of future generations, while less \u201cfit\u201d robots can simply be hoisted away and recycled into new ones as part of an ongoing evolutionary cycle.<\/p>\n<p>Two years into the project, significant advances have been made. From a scientific perspective, we have designed new <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2218-6581\/9\/4\/106\">artificial evolutionary algorithms<\/a> that have produced a diverse set of robots that drive or crawl and can learn to navigate through complex mazes. These algorithms evolve both the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/abstract\/document\/9308434\">body-plan<\/a>, and brain of the robot.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1145\/3377929.3398151\">brain<\/a> contains a controller that determines how the robot moves, interpreting sensory information from the environment and translating this into motor controls. Once the robot is built, a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mitpressjournals.org\/doi\/pdfplus\/10.1162\/isal_a_00299\">learning algorithm<\/a> quickly refines the child brain to account for any potential mismatch between its new body and its inherited brain.<\/p>\n<p>From an engineering perspective, we have designed the \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mitpressjournals.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1162\/isal_a_00147\">RoboFab<\/a>\u201d to fully <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jetWXiEeDfQ&amp;feature=youtu.be\">automate manufacturing<\/a>. This robotic arm attaches wires, sensors, and other \u201corgans\u201d chosen by evolution to the robot\u2019s 3D-printed chassis. We designed these components to facilitate swift assembly, giving the RoboFab access to a big <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/abstract\/document\/9308204\">toolbox<\/a> of robot limbs and organs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Waste_disposal\"><\/span>Waste disposal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first major use case we plan to address is deploying this technology to design robots to undertake clean-up of legacy waste in a nuclear reactor \u2013 like that seen in the TV mini<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> Chernobyl. Using humans for this task is both dangerous and expensive, and necessary <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurekamagazine.co.uk\/design-engineering-features\/technology\/autonomous-robots-and-ai-taking-humans-out-of-uks-nuclear-clean-up-task\/215804\/\">robotic solutions<\/a> remain to be developed.<\/p>\n<p>Looking forward, the long-term vision is to develop the technology sufficiently to enable the evolution of entire <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ieeetv.ieee.org\/towards-the-autonomous-evolution-of-robotic-ecosystems\">autonomous robotic ecosystems<\/a> that live and work for long periods in challenging and dynamic environments without the need for direct human oversight.<\/p>\n<p>In this radical new paradigm, robots are conceived and born, rather than designed and manufactured. Such robots will fundamentally change the concept of machines, showcasing a new breed that can change their form and behavior over time \u2013 just like us.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\" lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/153159\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><em>This article by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/emma-hart-426265\">Emma Hart<\/a>, Chair in Natural Computation, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/edinburgh-napier-university-696\">Edinburgh Napier University<\/a>\u00a0is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/were-teaching-robots-to-evolve-autonomously-so-they-can-adapt-to-life-alone-on-distant-planets-153159\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/space\/2021\/02\/07\/these-self-sufficient-robots-can-have-babies-and-colonize-distant-planets-syndication\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#These self-sufficient robots can have \u2018babies\u2019 and colonize distant planets&#8221; It\u2019s been suggested that an advance party of robots will be needed if humans are ever to settle on other planets. Sent ahead to create conditions favorable for humankind, these robots will need to be tough, adaptable, and recyclable if they\u2019re to survive within the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/02\/1-copy-17.jpg&signature=987357ef358ad3fa60ad7231d1fffa0c","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[92368,92367,5019,70759],"class_list":["post-172797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-3d-printed","tag-autonomous-robot","tag-space","tag-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}