research-article

Co-evolution of morphology and control of soft-bodied multicellular animats

Authors:

Michał Joachimczak,

Borys WróbelAuthors Info & Claims

GECCO '12: Proceedings of the 14th annual conference on Genetic and evolutionary computation

Pages 561 - 568

https://doi.org/10.1145/2330163.2330243

Published: 07 July 2012 Publication History

Abstract

We present a platform that allows for co-evolution of development and motion control of soft-bodied, multicellular animats in a 2-dimensional fluid-like environment. Artificial gene regulatory networks (GRNs) with real-valued expression levels control cell division and differentiation in multicellular embryos. Embryos develop in a simulated physics environment and are converted into animat structures by connecting neighboring cells with elastic springs. The springs connecting outer cells form the external envelope which is subject to fluid drag. Both the developmental program and motion control are encoded indirectly in a single linear genome, which consists of regulatory regions and regions that code for regulatory products (some of which act as morphogens). We applied a genetic algorithm to co-evolve morphology and control using a fitness measure whose value depends on distance traveled during the evaluation phase. We obtained various emergent morphologies and types of locomotion, some of them showing the use of appendages.

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Cited By

Tamura K(2023)A Controllable and Developmental Virtual Life Model2023 IEEE 21st Jubilee International Symposium on Intelligent Systems and Informatics (SISY)10.1109/SISY60376.2023.10417927(000029-000034)Online publication date: 21-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/SISY60376.2023.10417927
İlman MYildirim Taser P(2022)Machine Learning and Optimization Applications for Soft RoboticsDesign and Control Advances in Robotics10.4018/978-1-6684-5381-0.ch002(13-29)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2022
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-5381-0.ch002
Lai GLeymarie FLatham WArita TSuzuki R(2021)Virtual Creature Morphology ‐ A ReviewComputer Graphics Forum10.1111/cgf.14266140:2(659-681)Online publication date: 4-Jun-2021
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Co-evolution of morphology and control of soft-bodied multicellular animats

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cover image ACM Conferences

GECCO '12: Proceedings of the 14th annual conference on Genetic and evolutionary computation

July 2012

1396 pages

ISBN:9781450311779

DOI:10.1145/2330163

Editor:
Terence Soule
University of Idaho, USA
,
General Chair:
Jason H. Moore
Dartmouth College, USA

Copyright © 2012 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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SIGEVO: ACM Special Interest Group on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 07 July 2012

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GECCO '12

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GECCO '12: Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference

July 7 - 11, 2012

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

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Overall Acceptance Rate 1,669 of 4,410 submissions, 38%

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Cited By

Tamura K(2023)A Controllable and Developmental Virtual Life Model2023 IEEE 21st Jubilee International Symposium on Intelligent Systems and Informatics (SISY)10.1109/SISY60376.2023.10417927(000029-000034)Online publication date: 21-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/SISY60376.2023.10417927
İlman MYildirim Taser P(2022)Machine Learning and Optimization Applications for Soft RoboticsDesign and Control Advances in Robotics10.4018/978-1-6684-5381-0.ch002(13-29)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2022
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-5381-0.ch002
Lai GLeymarie FLatham WArita TSuzuki R(2021)Virtual Creature Morphology ‐ A ReviewComputer Graphics Forum10.1111/cgf.14266140:2(659-681)Online publication date: 4-Jun-2021
https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.142661
Banarse DBachrach YLiu SLever GHeess NFernando CKohli PGraepel TElkind EVeloso MAgmon NTaylor M(2019)The Body is Not a GivenProceedings of the 18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems10.5555/3306127.3331813(1134-1142)Online publication date: 8-May-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3306127.3331813
Cussat-Blanc SHarrington KBanzhaf W(2019)Artificial gene regulatory networks-a reviewArtificial Life10.1162/artl_a_0026724:4(296-328)Online publication date: 10-Dec-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1162/artl_a_00267
Ogawa J(2019)Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization for Evolving Soft Robots in Different EnvironmentsBio-inspired Information and Communication Technologies10.1007/978-3-030-24202-2_9(112-131)Online publication date: 24-Jul-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24202-2_9
Mazzolai BMondini ADel Dottore ESadeghi A(2019)Self‐growing Adaptable Soft RobotsMechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics10.1002/9783527822201.ch15(363-394)Online publication date: 29-Nov-2019
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Corucci FCheney NGiorgio-Serchi FBongard JLaschi C(2018)Evolving Soft Locomotion in Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments: Effects of Material Properties and Environmental TransitionsSoft Robotics10.1089/soro.2017.00555:4(475-495)Online publication date: Aug-2018
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Joachimczak MKowaliw TDoursat RWróbel B(2018)Evolutionary design of soft-bodied animats with decentralized controlArtificial Life and Robotics10.1007/s10015-013-0121-118:3-4(152-160)Online publication date: 15-Dec-2018
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Cussat-Blanc SBanzhaf W(2017)Introduction to gene regulatory networksProceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion10.1145/3067695.3067728(359-372)Online publication date: 15-Jul-2017
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