Genetic Robots are moving robots that can be created fully automatically. The robot structures are created using genetic software algorithms and additive manufacturing. The important role robots play is not limited to industrial production in the automotive industry. They are also used for exploration, transportation and as service robots. Modeling the movements to make them mobile or enabling them to grip objects is a complex yet central challenge for engineers. With its ‘Genetic Robots’, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) in Stuttgart has successfully had a moving robot automatically designed – without the intervention of a designing engineer – by a genetic software algorithm. The robots consist of cylinder-shaped tubes with ball-and-socket joints that can assume different shapes depending on external factors and the purpose at hand.
Fitness functions within the software algorithm select the movement elements with which the Genetic Robot can advance along this surface the software determines the shape of the tubes, the position of the movement points and the position of the drives (actuators). The basis for the development is a physic engine in which the most important environmental influences – such as the friction of the ground or gravity – are implemented. If the Genetic Robot is to withstand unevenness, climb stairs or swim in water, these environmental conditions can be simulated. The result is not just one but a multitude of solutions from which the designer can choose the best one. The Genetic Robots system can also be used to design subcomponents such as gripping systems for robots in industry.
More information:
http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2010/11/euromold-genetic-robots.jsp
More information:
http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2010/11/euromold-genetic-robots.jsp