Publications by Dario Floreano

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We address two issues in Evolutionary Robotics, namely the genetic encoding and the performance criterion, also known as fitness function. For the first aspect, we suggest to encode mechanisms for parameter self-organization, instead of the parameters themselves as in conventional approaches. We argue that the suggested encoding generates systems that can solve more complex tasks and are more robust to unpredictable sources of change. We support our arguments with a set of experiments on evolutionary neural

This paper describes an evolutionary algorithm based on a statistical representation of populations of individuals. Experiments on robot navigation and on numerical fitness functions are presented in order to measure the performance of the algorithm compared to traditional genetic algorithms. Results show that the method is suitable for onboard online evolution because it requires low amount of memory resources. Furthermore, it allows for incremental evolution in dynamic environments in order to cope with c

A major challenge in studying social behaviour stems from the need to disentangle the behaviour of each individual from the resulting collective. One way to overcome this problem is to construct a model of the behaviour of an individual, and observe whethe ...

A swarm of randomly moving miniature robots is an effective solution for the exploration of unknown terrains. However, the deployment of a swarm of miniature robots poses two challenges: finding an adequate locomotion strategy for fast exploration and obst ...

Evolutionary algorithms are increasingly being applied to problems that are too computationally expensive to run on a single personal computer due to costly fitness function evaluations and/or large numbers of fitness evaluations. Here, we introduce the Se ...

Flight in dense environments, such as forests and cities requires drones to perform sharp turns. Although fixed-wing drones are aerodynamically and energetically more efficient than multicopters, they require a comparatively larger area to turn and thus ar ...

Fixed-wing drones must navigate to the desired location accurately for maneuvers such as picking up objects and perching. However, current GNSS receivers limit their navigation accuracy to several meters in outdoor environments, making such maneuvers impos ...

Optimizing collective behavior in multiagent systems requires algorithms to find not only appropriate individual behaviors but also a suitable composition of agents within a team. Over the last two decades, evolutionary methods have been shown to be a prom ...

We provide an overview of the evolutionary approach to the emergence of artificial intelligence in embodied behavioral agents. This approach, also known as Evolutionary Robotics, builds and capitalizes upon the interactions between the embodied agent and its environment. Although we cover research carried out in several laboratories around the world, the choice of topics and approaches is based on work carried out at EPFL. We describe a large number of experiments including evolution of single robots in env

Vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, with their ability to change the stiffness of the spine to increase load-bearing capability or flexibility, have inspired roboticists to develop artificial variable-stiffness spines. However, ...

Neuromodulation is thought to be one of the underlying principles of learning and memory in biological neural networks. Recent experiments have shown that neuroevolutionary methods benefit from neuromodulation in simple grid-world problems. In this paper w ...

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are polymeric films that can be adhered to and detached from surfaces without leaving residue. Researchers are looking to enhance the bond strength between PSAs and different substrates. It can be achieved by tuning PSA' ...

In this paper we describe a new class of representations for real-valued parameters called Center of Mass Encoding (CoME). CoME is based on variable length strings, it is self-adaptive, and it permits the choice of the degree of redundancy of the genotype- ...

Vibrotactile displays can extend the perception capabilities of visually impaired persons. Placing such devices on the head promises easy attachment and detachment without reducing other interaction abilities. However, the effectiveness of head-attached vi ...

Edible electronics and robotics are emerging areas intimately bridging food science and engineering to deliver technology using food-derived materials. Edible devices offer unprecedented opportunities thanks to features such as bioresorbability, nutritiona ...

We are witnessing the advent of a new era of robots — drones — that can autonomously fly in natural and man-made environments. These robots, often associated with defence applications, could have a major impact on civilian tasks, including transportation, ...

Most current drones are designed with a static morphology aimed at exploiting a single locomotion mode. This results in limited versatility and adaptability to multi-domain environments, such as those encountered in rescue missions, agriculture and inspect ...

The effects of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market are matters of great social concern. Economists and technology experts are debating at what rate, and to what extent, technology could be used to replace humans in occupations, and ...

The success of swarm behaviors often depends on the range at which robots can communicate and the speed at which they change their behavior. Challenges arise when the communication range is too small with respect to the dynamics of the robot, preventing in ...

Semi- or fully-autonomous Personal Aerial Vehicles (PAVs) are currently studied and developed by public and private organizations as a solution for traffic congestion. While optimal collision-free navigation algorithms have been proposed for autonomous rob ...

Dario Floreano

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Evolutionary Robots with on-line self-organization and behavioral fitness

Incremental Evolution with Minimal Resources

Using robots to understand social behavior

A Soft Robot for Random Exploration of Terrestrial Environments

The Seamless Peer and Cloud Evolution Framework

Sharp turning maneuvers with avian-inspired wing and tail morphing

Accurate Vision-based Flight with Fixed-Wing Drones

Evolving team compositions by agent swapping

Evolution of Embodied Intelligence

Variable-stiffness tensegrity spine

Evolvability of Neuromodulated Learning for Robots

Enhancement of Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive by CO2 Laser Treatment

Center of Mass Encoding: A self-adaptive representation with adjustable redundancy for real-valued parameters

Quantifying information transfer through a head attached vibrotactile display: principles for design and control

An Edible Bistable Tilt Sensor Enabling Autonomous Operation of a Partially Eatable Rolling Robot

Science, technology and the future of small autonomous drones

A multi-modal hovering and terrestrial robot with adaptive morphology

How to compete with robots by assessing job automation risks and resilient alternatives

Reynolds flocking in reality with fixed-wing robots: communication range vs. maximum turning rate

Human-Comfortable Collision Free Navigation for Personal Aerial Vehicles