AN UNGAINLY bridge built out of Lego bricks may be the first step toward
developing robots whose bodies and brains evolve together like those of a living
organism.
Researchers at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, linked a
computer program that develops Lego structures through random combinations and
changes with another that figures out if a structure can hold together in the
real world.
Jordan Pollack and Pablo Funes set goals for their program鈥攆or example,
to span a 2-metre gap. As they describe in Artificial Life (vol 4, p
337), the program tests each generation of designs, weeding out those that do
not work and refining those that do. 鈥淰ery simple evolution, combined with the
laws of physics, rediscovered the triangle and the cantilever to produce
support,鈥� says Pollack.
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The odd-looking but functional bridges, cranes, and tables that emerged from
their program are glimpses of a grander vision鈥攃omplex machines whose
brains and bodies evolve together, much as organisms have done. Funes points out
that an organism needs a body and brain that are both adapted to their
environment. 鈥淪o let鈥檚 see if we can evolve the body and the brain together,鈥� he
says.
Working with smooth bricks that can slide over each other, joints and motors,
the researchers hope to create 鈥渄isposable robots鈥� whose designs evolve inside a
computer but which work in the real world. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not something we can do
today,鈥� Pollack says, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 the first step.鈥�