A study on functional characteristics of robotic system with morphology and intelligence

Robotic behavior emerges from not only intelligence but also the relationship between morphology, intelligence and the environment. We investigate and analyze the relationship between morphology and intelligence acquired from different tasks, and the characteristic differences of functions emerges from this relationship. Robotic morphology and intelligence are encoded using genetic programming: GP operations, and robot dynamics are handled using a two-dimensional dynamics simulation. As the robotic morphology, we utilize position-changeable visual sensors through evolution by GP operations, and as the robotic intelligence, we use a decision tree which is able to evolve by GP operations. A task of the robot is to keep a certain distance from an object. The simulation results clarify the importance of harmony and/or balance between morphology and intelligence, and show that a new function emerges as the result of harmony and/or balance between morphology, intelligence and a task