Primitive Robots

Burning Sheep Productions · Postby **Burning Sheep Productions** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 12:06 pm

<a href='http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452 ... ry_related' target='_blank'>Bots Battle, Breed in A.I. Test </a> Smart robots equipped with energy-sucking fangs and big appetites will soon be locked in a struggle for survival as they attempt to create their own civilization. In an experiment that sounds like a science-fiction film plot but is actually as close to real life as artificial intelligence can get, several dozen "predator" and "prey" robots will be released next month into a prepared habitat at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in the north of England. Once released, the robots -- programmed only with the most basic of survival instincts -- will need to quickly learn how to feed and breed in order to survive. Their creators hope the robots will evolve by adopting the sorts of survival tactics employed in the wild by animals, but there is no guarantee that anything will happen. Once released, the robots will be completely on their own, in what is being billed as the largest experiment ever in artificial intelligence. If the robots are successful at building a civilization, the results of the study could be applied to create teams of worker robots destined for employment in deep outer space or undersea exploration. Magna's evolving robots are the brainchild of Professor Noel Sharkey, the technical adviser for BBC's TechnoGames, an Olympic-styled event for mechanical athletes, and a frequent judge on the television show Robot Wars. The robots were designed by Sharkey and the Creative Robotics Unit at Magna, which is located in Rotherham, England. Visitors to Magna will be able to watch as the robots struggle to create an evolutionary ecosystem. According to Sharkey, the prey robots will feed -- which in this case translates to charging their batteries -- by grazing under "trees" made of light. The prey will (hopefully) find the trees by using their built-in solar sensors. Complicating the matter somewhat, the prey will only be able to charge their batteries by positioning their solar panels in exactly the right place under the trees. The predators won't have an easy time of it either. They will feed by hunting down the prey bots, immobilizing them, and then inserting an "energy sucking fang" into a specific spot in order to transfer battery power to themselves from their prey. The robots' world will be delicately balanced like a natural ecosystem. For example, if the predators go berserk and kill all the prey by sucking up all of their juice in one big binge, then the predators themselves will also, eventually, starve and die. Both the predator and the prey robots will be controlled by neural network "brains." Neural nets are a programming system based on the working of a human brain. A program or object powered by a neural net can learn from its own actions. The robot's brains are 32-bit Hitachi 7045 SH2 microcontrollers, which will take input from the robots' built-in sensors and then send instructions to the robots' motors. Information gleaned from the infrared sensors not only allows the robots to navigate around the arena without bumping into things, but also to perform what Sharkey refers to as "infrared sniffing." <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... /blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /> Wow, I wonder what the point of this is...

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:11 pm

Ooooh. A-life project that uses robots rather than code bassed life. And as for the neural network thing - yes, they are that. There's also a keyboard with a neural network (why?)

simon · Postby **simon** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:30 pm

One step closer to obtaining my robot army. OF DOOM!

Zylo · Postby **Zylo** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 2:28 pm

Very interesting...we're that much closer to having robots of death and destruction...cool!

Foxchild · Postby **Foxchild** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 2:34 pm

if that works, theres something a little scary there, and a little cool. now, are there "genetics" involved in the 'breeding'? do they track certain attributes and put in new bots based upon the two bots mating? probably not, but if they went to that level of detail.... granted, there still are huge limitations, but this may prove to be an interesting experiment.

Henohenomoheji · Postby **Henohenomoheji** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:04 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (DraganFox @ Apr 15 2004, 12:28 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Very interesting...we're that much closer to having robots of death and destruction...cool!  </td></tr></table>  I swear, why does everybody think death and destruction when it comes to robots. I mean, other than the fact that it's fun. ...stupid media. and now, back to our feature presentation. COOL! Space Station Silicion Valley style.

Muninn · Postby **Muninn** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 4:11 pm

Great, another step towards total robotic cold sterile, mechanism emotionless life.

Zylo · Postby **Zylo** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 4:59 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (iyestorm @ Apr 14 2004, 11:04 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'>  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (DraganFox @ Apr 15 2004, 12:28 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Very interesting...we're that much closer to having robots of death and destruction...cool! </td></tr></table>  I swear, why does everybody think death and destruction when it comes to robots. I mean, other than the fact that it's fun.  </td></tr></table>  You just nailed it.

Tavis · Postby **Tavis** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 6:46 pm

I read about this months ago in Discover Magazine... before this forum existed, in fact. I believe the system described above was designed to try to help produce more autonomous systems, such as for probes exploring Mars or stuff like that. It expands on the evolutionary model of robotics that has thus far produced wacky and ingeniusly simple solutions to problems that classical techniques cannot. To those people unfamiliar with it, basically random programs (sometimes doped with useful code) are inserted into basic robotic forms (or virtual ones) and tested for fitness. The best ones are paired off to produce random "offspring" using code extracted from both and some occasional mutations. After hundreds (or thousands or millions, if you have the processing power) of such generations in a simulator, they are placed in hardware for real-world trials. Anyway, being able to produce robots capable of gathering energy for a workforce of other machines (and compatible robots able to accept such energy) frees people to make systems capable of sustaining themselves without human maintenance. This is very good in applications where humans are physically unable to attend to such basic needs (such as in a waste cleanup job, high-risk manufacturing, or in space exploration.)

Burning Sheep Productions · Postby **Burning Sheep Productions** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:59 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (FoxChild @ Apr 15 2004, 12:34 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> if that works, theres something a little scary there, and a little cool. now, are there "genetics" involved in the 'breeding'? do they track certain attributes and put in new bots based upon the two bots mating? probably not, but if they went to that level of detail.... granted, there still are huge limitations, but this may prove to be an interesting experiment.  </td></tr></table>  Says on the second page of the source that they 'learn' as stuff happens so when two bots mate their knowledge is mixed randomly and put in the new bot.

Salad Man · Postby **Salad Man** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:10 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (5hfifty @ Apr 14 2004, 09:30 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> One step closer to obtaining my robot army. OF DOOM!</td></tr></table>  Pff. Not before I get my robot army.

Zylo · Postby **Zylo** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 3:29 pm

::looks at Salad's new avatar:: Family guy rocks.

ShadOtterdan · Postby **ShadOtterdan** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 6:23 pm

well, if you were making robots of death and destruction however, you wouldn't need A.I. all you would need is infrared sensors, weapons, and code instructing it to use those weapons on anything with a heat signature. At least I think thats how it would work, I have little experience in either field.

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 6:59 pm

You'd need a certain level of ai. Or you'd wind up with the space pirates in Metroid Prime *sigh*

simon · Postby **simon** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:55 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (Salad Man @ Apr 15 2004, 10:10 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'>  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (5hfifty @ Apr 14 2004, 09:30 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> One step closer to obtaining my robot army. OF DOOM!</td></tr></table>  Pff. Not before I get my robot army.  </td></tr></table>  You're on.

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