GECCO2020 – Workshop on the evolution of robots for the real world

Dr David Howard from our team will take part in a workshop to discuss real-world applications of evolutionary robots during the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO 2020) in Cancun, Mexico.

Evolution offers great promise for the automatic design of bespoke robots whose form and function are specifically tailored to meet the demands of given tasks and environments. However, real-world deployments of evolved robots have (with a few notable exceptions) been relatively sparse.

Motivated by the possibilities afforded by new-found, easily accessible advanced manufacturing processes including 3D printing, and the future promise of bespoke ‘robotic materials’, we invite interested participants to join us in a robust discussion of the current state of the field as we sketch a roadmap towards the mainstream adoption of evolutionary paradigms into robotic design processes. We encourage a specific focus on real-world applications.

We will hear from invited world-leading experts who will share their success stories and cautionary tales:

• David Howard CSIRO
• Emma Hart Edinburgh Napier University
• Gusz Eiben VU Amsterdam

As well as a panel discussion and ‘show and tell’ session, we are seeking contributions for a poster session in the following areas:
• Coevolution of behaviour and control
• Learning in hardware with limited / noisy data
• Integration of evolutionary approaches with traditional design techniques
• Environmentally-mediated behaviours
• Useful levels of abstraction in evolutionary processes
• Building and managing complexity (modularity, hierarchy, indirect encodings, etc).
• Integration of expert knowledge and requirements into evolutionary processes
• Managing noise, including reality gap and sim 2 real
• Design and fabrication processes for evolved robots
• Real-world verification of evolved solutions

Contributions will be accepted as two-page extended abstracts, to be published in the GECCO companion proceedings, with subsequent presentation of the poster during the workshop itself.

Expected outcomes include an inventory of the main challenges, a technology survey of possible enablers and solutions (from our own and other fields), and a sketch roadmap towards a future of mainstream usage and adoption of evolutionary techniques in demanding robotic use cases.

For more information contact Dr David Howard.