Robots exchange 'genetic material' to evolve

A series of experiments has pitted robots against each other in different tasks to assess their evolving fitness across 10 generations, as they swapped genetic material in a process similar to mating. The study shows for the first time that developmental factors play a role in the evolution of physically embodied robots just as they do in biological systems, according to the researchers. The work taps into Darwinian evolutionary principles, and marks an important step forward in understanding how the interplay between evolution and development contributes to these systems. As the robots'reproduced' across 10 generations, the physical expression of the genome changed by altering their wiring according to the new genetic setup. The researchers measured the robots' fitness by their performance, and compared this with simulations In the study, researchers from Vassar College expanded on efforts in evolutionary robots to include epigenetic factors for the first time.