Publications by Dario Floreano

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This paper introduces three strategies to deploy a swarm of robots in unknown environments for a search task, aiming to reduce the total swarm energy cost with rapid operation for applications such as disaster mitigation. We are motivated by current resear ...

We introduce and apply a genetic representation for analog electronic circuits based on the association of character strings extracted from the genome with the ter-minals and parameters of components, and the use of local string alignment to generate the connection between components. The representation produces a variable ge-nome length structure that tolerates the execution of ma-jor genome reorganization operators such as duplication and transposition, along with less disruptive ones such as character in

Mobile robots have the potential to become the ideal tool to teach a broad range of engineering disciplines. Indeed, mobile robots are getting increasingly complex and accessible. They embed elements from diverse ﬁelds such as mechanics, digital electronic ...

Evolutionary robotics is an interesting novel approach to shape the control system of autonomous robots. This explores issues related to re-adaptation in changed environments of a population of evolved individuals. Experimental studies are reported for genetic evolution of neurocontrollers that have developed the ability to perform homing navigation for battery recharge of miniature mobile robot. It is shown that re-adaptation to important changes in the environment is very rapid and does not disrupt previo

Genetic diversity is thought to be a main factor in determin ing task performance and behavioral plasticity of social insect colonies. This diversity has two main causes. a) Multiple matings by the colony queen (polyandry) and b) the number of regions on t ...

Multimodal unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are rarely capable of more than two modalities, i.e., flying and walking or flying and perching. However, being able to fly, perch, and walk could further improve their usefulness by expanding their operating enve ...

Flying robots that can locomote efficiently in GPS-denied cluttered environments have many applications, such as in search and rescue scenarios. However, dealing with the high amount of obstacles inherent to such environments is a major challenge for flyin ...

We present a new robotic concept, called SWARM-BOT, based on a swarm of small and simple autonomous mobile robots called S-BOTs. S-BOTs have a particular assembling capability that allows them to connect physically to other S-BOTs and form a bigger robot entity, the SWARM-BOT. A SWARM-BOT is typically composed by 10 to 30 S-BOTs physically interconnected. S-BOTs can autonomously assemble into a SWARM-BOT but also disassemble again. This feature of the S-BOTs provides SWARM-BOT with self-assembling and self-

This paper presents an affordable, fully automated and accurate mapping solutions based on ultra-light UAV imagery. Several datasets are analysed and their accuracy is estimated. We show that the accuracy highly depends on the ground resolution (flying hei ...

Strategies for hybrid locomotion such as jumping and gliding are used in nature by many different animals for traveling over rough terrain. This combination of locomotion modes also allows small robots to overcome relatively large obstacles at a minimal energetic cost compared to wheeled or flying robots. In this chapter we describe the development of a novel palm sized robot of 10,g that is able to autonomously deploy itself from ground or walls, open its wings, recover in midair and subsequently perform

After reviewing current approaches in Evolutionary Robotics, we point to directions of research that re likely to bring interesting results in the future. e then address two crucial aspects for future developments of Evolutionary Robotics: choice of fitness functions and scalability to real-world situations. In the first case we suggest framework to describe fitness functions, choose them according to the situation constraints, and compare available experiments in the literature on evolutionary robotics. In

Two classes of dynamical recurrent neural networks, Continuous Time Recurrent Neural Networks (CTRNNs) (Yamauchi and Beer, 1994) and Plastic Neural Networks (PNNs) (Floreano and Urzelai, 2000) are compared on two behavioral tasks aimed at exploring their capabilities to display reinforcement-learning like behaviors and adaptation to unpredictable environmental changes. The networks report similar performances on both tasks, but PNNs display significantly better performance when sensory-motor re-adaptation i

We propose a novel optic-flow-based flight control strategy, inspired by recent observations and hypothesis by Baird (unpublished), to regulate independently forward speed and altitude. Unlike previous approaches where longitudinal ventral optic flow was used to regulate both forward speed and altitude, we suggest to use transversal ventral optic flow generated by a stereotyped lateral oscillation to regulate altitude. Longitudinal ventral optic flow is still used to regulate forward speed. The main advanta

A steerable catheter (10) comprises portions (100, 105) of different stiffness, having a proximal end (11), a distal end, a lumen extending there between, at least one magnet (20) at the proximal end (11), at least a magnetic field to influence the proxima ...

Pigeons may transmit diseases to humans and cause damages to buildings, monuments, and other infrastructure. Therefore, several control strategies have been developed, but they have been found to be either ineffective or harmful to animals and often depend ...

We describe a new multi-robot system, named SWARM-BOTS, that exploits physical inter-connections to solve tasks that are impossible for a single robot. This is for instance the case of passing large gaps or high steps in all-terrain conditions. In order to achieve this type of autonomous collective operations, the design of the type of connection, as well as its sensors and actuators, plays a key role. This paper presents the choices made in the SWARM-BOTS project and the know-how collected until now. The r

The ease of use and versatility of drones has contributed to their deployment in several fields, from entertainment to search and rescue. However, drones remain vulnerable to collisions due to pilot mistakes or various system failures. This paper presents ...

This paper is concerned with adaptation capabilities of evolved neural controllers. A method consisting of encoding a set of local adaptation rules that synapses obey while the robot freely moves in the environment [6] is compared to a standard fixed-weight network. In the experiments presented here, the performance of the robot is measured in environments that are different in significant ways from those used during evolution. The results show that evolutionary adaptive controllers can adapt to environment

Animals can finely modulate their leg stiffness to interact with complex terrains and absorb sudden shocks. In feats like leaping and sprinting, animals demonstrate a sophisticated interplay of opposing muscle pairs that actively modulate joint stiffness, ...

Miniature curved artificial compound eyes (CURVACE) represent a promising tool to assist in navigation of mobile robots. In particular, they feature ideal properties for minidrones to navigate safely in indoor environments due to its panoramic field of vie ...

Dario Floreano

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Energy Efficient Swarm Deployment for Search in Unknown Environments

Evolution of Analog Networks using Local String Alignment on Highly Reorganizable Genomes

The e-puck, a Robot Designed for Education in Engineering

Evolutionary Re-Adaptation of Neurocontrollers in Changing Environments

Influence of the level of polyandry and genetic architecture on division of labour

Avian-Inspired Claws Enable Robot Perching or Walking

A Collision Resilient Flying Robot

SWARM-BOT: A Swarm of Autonomous Mobile Robots with Self-Assembling Capabilities

The Accuracy of Automatic Photogrammetric Techniques on Ultra-light UAV Imagery

Towards a self-deploying and gliding robot

Evolutionary Robotics: The Next Generation

Levels of Dynamics and Adaptive Behavior in Evolutionary Neural Controllers

Optic-flow-based Altitude and Forward Speed Regulation using Stereotypical Lateral Movements

STEERABLE CATHETER WITH PORTIONS OF DIFFERENT STIFFNESS

Autonomous Detection and Deterrence of Pigeons on Buildings by Drones

Physical connections and cooperation in swarm robotics

Insect-Inspired Mechanical Resilience for Multicopters

Evolutionary Robots with Fast Adaptive Behavior in New Environments

Tensegrity-based Robot Leg Design with Variable Stiffness

Miniature artificial compound eyes for optic-flow-based robotic navigation