Robotics

A computer capable of creating its own robotic body.

And it is the researchers at MIT who have been able to develop a computer capable of designing its own robotic body, with the parts and pieces available.

The software has been called RoboGrammar, it is capable of analyzing what parts of your body you need to cover and what components are available, and then create the "robot".

The interesting thing about this system, is that choosing the right shape, to fulfill the functions that the robot is intended, is vital for its operation. How does it work? It is begin indicating him to the system that parts and components it is possess, as wheels, arms, joints, etc., then the land where it is will perform and RoboGrammar makes the rest, forming a structure perfected and the program of control for its robot.

Allan Zhao, the lead author of the paper and a PhD student at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) describes RoboGrammar as "a way to create new and more inventive robot designs that could potentially be more effective".

RoboGrammar operates in three sequential stages: first, it analyzes and defines the problem, then it develops a list of possible solutions, and finally it selects the optimal ones. The user's responsibility lies in the moment of entering the data and components that he or she has, making the system make the best decisions.

Because each robot requires to control the movements and to evaluate the function that will have each one of its parts selected, the team also developed a controller for each robot, called Predictive Control of the Model, an algorithm that controls and governs the chain of movement of the several motors of the robot.

Zhao stated, "The shape and controller of the robot are deeply intertwined so we have to optimize a controller for each robot individually".

This algorithm is based on "graphic heuristic search", constantly evaluating the diverse robots, learning that movement and functions correspond to develop a determined task in an efficient way, once the data is obtained, the system will offer better options to develop better robots, until achieving an optimal robot.

RoboGrammar will make that the process of the design of robot is creative, amusing and more than anything, to obtain a functional and superb robot.

09 de Febrero, 2021