2010-12-03

Genetic Robots

Robots Don’t Need Us Anymore - PCWorld


These robots aren’t just built independently of humans using a 3D printer; they’re designed independently by a software algorithm that creates its own best robot for a given task.


Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute calls its creations "genetic robots." The algorithmic software used in the project creates several different designs and then decides which is most fit for the task. While similar projects have existed in the past the Fraunhofer algorithm takes into account physical laws and environmental factors. All of this allows for unprecedented variation and even a kind of mutation in the output of the robot designs. The chosen design is then created on a 3D printer and sent on its merry way.


Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Computer-generated robots

Press Release 29.11.2010

Genetic Robots are moving robots that can be created fully automatically. The robot structures are created using genetic software algorithms and additive manufacturing. At the Euromold trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany, researchers will be demonstrating these mobile machines from December 1-4 in Hall 11, Booth D66.

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Bionics provides the basis for the movements implemented. Natures ‘ideas’ are decrypted, and natural laws are applied to the field of technology. The resulting bionic structures are then manufactured using additive technologies. The original genetic algorithm was developed by US scientists Hod Lipson and Jordan Pollack and stems from their GOLEM Project. The software was further developed by i2p – ideas to products GmbH in Sankt Gallen, Switzerland, so that the robots’ geometries can be output directly as a CAD file for production by electronic tool machines. The mechatronics – the interplay of mechanics, electronics and computer science – along with the capability to move about by means of an additively manufactured bellows drive were created at IPA.


Collected from: YouTube - Golem project

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