Video: Evolutionary Robots Learn to Crawl Before They Walk

that is kinda eery, i like it!

They should modify the algorithm to simulate more human like bodies. Seriously, a problem that many androids have today is that they have to be stable.

I'm sorry, but why is this news? Haven't we been using evolutionary programming for robot learning for many years now? It seems like he just applied it to MindStorms...not a major leap forward, to be completely honest...

-IMP ;) :)

@IMP

Because it's cool. It's probably news to a lot of people. It's got a video. Meaning, it's got moving colours and sounds.

are those legos?

Wow these look really cool.

Make it a great day

Mike
http://whoismikehobbs.com

News Flash!!!!!! This isn't evolution of anything! Why is it that scientists or people in general want to tag the word evolution onto everything they can?

This is learning through programing and adaptive antilogarithms. The Robots aren't evolving. Like a human baby it learns to do things over time.

News Flash!!!
Evolution: a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change or development
IE Learning. Learning is evolution. You happen to be thinking of the biological definition of evolution, but there are so many more. You could say that school alows you to evolve from a child to an adult. Or, according to the context you are using, fish evolving into amphibians and reptiles.

@patron - I don't think the word Evolution fits what these robots do. Though some aspects of the definition do "fit", the progressive change part. But I don't usually think of learning as evolution. If I learn how to sing a song, I didn't evolve, I merely learned a new pattern of words. Did I evolve into a singer? No I learned to sing a song.

Merriam Webster Definition of LEARNING
1 the act or experience of one that learns
2 knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study
3 modification of a behavioral tendency by experience (as exposure to conditioning)

Clearly the change is brought about by purposeful actions and programing.

@trtp2 - No u did not learn to be a singer after learning/singing a new song, but u took the first steps. If you learned more songs after that im sure u would gradualy become a better singer just like these robots who learn to walk by repetition. Evolution is a gradual process, rome wasnt built in one day so to speak.

and dont try to correct the definition of evolution by throughing a different definition at us... lol

@Skunk - Oh sorry next time I won't throw the truth around and I'll just makeup stuff instead.

LOL!! thats no even how u spell my name... although im sure u did that on purpose...
all im saying is know what the word fully means before u try to argue thats its misused.

anyways the first little bit of the movie reminded me of the ring for some reason... am i fucked up?

When the legos form a robot when randomly thrown into a bag together, and then the robot learns to walk I'll be impressed. Until then, the robot is just doing as it is designed to do.

Please Dont Feed The Trolls.

@Slunk - Yes I spelled your name wrong.

@Pixielater - Trolls don't exist.

@trtp2:
not fantasy trolls, people who start argurements on comment threads or topics in forums.

or something like that. i don't know the exact definition.

Babies learn to crawl before they learn to walk. It's not considered evolution.

Evolution as normally defined, means that species change over generation because the members with superior skills survive, and pass them on to their offspring.

This is a learning process.

-10 for incorrect use of the E word

do people notknow what this "E" word means???
its can be use to describe change, natural selection, even math uses this word!! just becouse the most common way of using this word is for biological understanding, doesnt mean that its the only way this word can be used.

ev·o·lu·tion (v-lshn, v-)

1. A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. See Synonyms at development.

2.
a. The process of developing.
b. Gradual development.

3. Biology
a. Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.
b. The historical development of a related group of organisms; phylogeny.

4. A movement that is part of a set of ordered movements.

5. Mathematics The extraction of a root of a quantity.

if this doesnt explain it then sorry...i tried

Context, and usage of the word are important. The single word may be used for each of those things. However, each of those individual usages are NOT interchangeable. And one needs to be careful of a 'bait and switch' argument because of that.

what is it that is being interchanged exactly?
The use of the word in regards to this article is defined by my # 2 definition perfectly, and maybe # 4 definitions... prob not

i dont care what the intentions of the author were... im not defending anyone here... even if he did it as a bait and switch stratagy... just because its not what u expected doesnt mean that the word doesnt apply to the topic at hand.

Evolution has just been emphasized by the mass media, poeple tend to think biology first thing.
(I have no statistics to back me up by the way)

Smaller steps bigger strides!

fascinating
I agree with ghost