It’s disgusting, indestructible, and self-healing. What is this for?
An indestructible modular robot became a monster – all it took was machine learning
Traditional robots are crap – there’s no other way to call it. They lose a leg and become useless, sometimes it is enough to fall over and there is nothing to collect. The new design consists of Lego-like modules – each with a battery, a motor and a computer.
Independently, the modules jump, roll and turn; combined, they form quadrupeds or other forms, moving chaotically but effectively over grass, gravel, mud or roots. Is something broken? It will screw itself together, perhaps mutating into a new form.
They wouldn’t come up with it themselves, but there are prompts
The evolution of AI turned out to be the key: the algorithm tested thousands of configurations in extreme virtual conditions. The best survived, mutated and combined to create forms that humans could never have invented.
Project leader Sam Kriegman stated that now “evolution brings designs beyond human imagination.” The physical prototypes have passed field tests – even after losing a leg or being dismembered, they continue the mission. Stubborn koromysła.
This is the first evolving robot operating outside of simulation, but probably not the last. All you need to do is add some sensors and nothing will stop such an idiot. The question is when additional military modules will appear and the segments will grow to impressively destructive sizes.
