One small step for a robot, one giant leap for robotkind.
From DVICE:
Credit: Jeff Clune
A team of researchers has done something remarkable: they've demonstrated simulated evolution in a visible, simple way. Also, they've doomed us all. In an experiment akin to that of Dr. Frankenstein, a team of researchers working at the Cornell Creative Machines Lab has provided the world with (further) proof of evolution by designing a program within which simulated robots "build" themselves out of cubes of virtual muscles and bones.We've already crossed that bridge, see:
The rules of the simulation are simple: robots that move faster get to reproduce more. And since the robots live entirely inside a computer, their generations pass much faster than our own. So fast, in fact, that the process of their evolution can be seen in the blink of an eye. A wonderful tool with which to teach the principles of evolution, to be sure.
We're thinking that these robots need not always be chained to the insides of a program. It almost seems like they've been created with the express intent of being able to break the chains of their software confinement. Consider their construction: a series of simple cubes. Cubes which are the easiest shape to print on say, a 3D printer....MORE
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