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Using Biological Inspiration to Build Artificial Life That Locomotes

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Evolutionary Robotics. From Intelligent Robotics to Artificial Life (EvoRobots 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2217))

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Abstract

Nature’s general principles can provide biological inspiration for robotic designs. Biological inspiration in the form of genetic programming and algorithms has already shown utility for automated design. However, reliance on evolutionary processes mimicking nature will not necessarily result in designs better than what human engineers can do. Biological evolution is more like a tinkerer than an engineer. Natural selection is constrained to work with pre-existing materials inherited from an ancestor. Engineers can start from scratch and select optimal raw materials and tools for the task desired. Nature provides useful hints of what is possible and design ideas that may have escaped our consideration. The discovery of general biological design principles requires a collapse of dimensions in complex systems. Reducing redundancies by seeking synergies yields simple, general principles that can provide inspiration. Even if we had all the general biological principles, we don’t have the technology to use them effectively. Information handling has changed dramatically, but until recently the final effectors (metal beams and electric motors) have not. Nature will become an increasingly more useful teacher as human technology takes on more of the characteristics of nature. The design of artificial life will require unprecedented interdisciplinary integration.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Robert J. Full

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  1. Robert J. Full
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Applied AI Systems, Inc., 3232 Carp Road, Carp, Ontario, Canada, K0A 1L0

    Takashi Gomi

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Full, R.J. (2001). Using Biological Inspiration to Build Artificial Life That Locomotes. In: Gomi, T. (eds) Evolutionary Robotics. From Intelligent Robotics to Artificial Life. EvoRobots 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2217. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45502-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45502-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42737-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45502-8

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