Learning Walking Patterns for Kinematically Complex Robots Using Evolution Strategies
Malte Langosz, Mark Edgington, Jan Hendrik Metzen, José de Gea Fernández, Yohannes Kassahun, Frank Kirchner
Editors: G. Rudolph, T. Jansen, S.M. Lucas, et al.
In 10th International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, (PPSN-2008), 13.9.-17.9.2008, Dortmund, Springer, series Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 5199, pages 1091-1100, 2008.
Abstract
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Manually developing walking patterns for kinematically complex robots can be a challenging and time-consuming task. In order to automate this design process, a learning system that generates, tests, and optimizes different walking patterns is needed, as well as the ability to accurately simulate a robot and its environment. In this work, we describe a learning system that uses the CMA-ES method from evolutionary computation to learn walking patterns for a complex legged robot. The robot’s limbs are controlled using parametrized distorted sine waves, and the evolutionary algorithm optimizes the parameters of these waveforms, testing the walking patterns in a physical simulation. The best solutions evolved by this system has been transferred to and tested on a real robot, and has resulted in a gait that is superior to those previously designed by a human designer.