Explorations in evolutionary humanoid robotics

The field of evolutionary humanoid robotics is a branch of evolutionary robotics specifically dealing with the application of evolutionary principles to humanoid robot design. Previous studies [1,2] demonstrated the possible future potential of this approach by evolving walking behaviours for simulated humanoid robots with up to 20 degrees of freedom. In this paper we extend the work presented in the previous publications in several ways. We present preliminary results in the analysis of the behaviour of specific high-fitness evolved controllers and of the evolutionary process itself by examining the changes in diversity over time in the evolutionary process. We then investigate the effect of minor alterations in robot morphology in walking ability. These include an alteration of the surface area of the robot in contact with the ground (foot size) and the effect of the immobilization of individual joint or joints in the robot. The latter study may be of potential future use in prosthetic design. We explore also the possibility of the evolution of humanoid robots which can cope with different environmental conditions. These include reduced ground friction (ice) and modified gravitation (moon walking). Finally we present initial results in the implementation of our simulated humanoid robots in hardware using the Bioloid robotic platform.