Machines' "many little lives" *: An experimental robotic platform to investigate the fundamental and necessary ingredients for life-like artificial sy

该项目旨在建立一个软的、三层的人工平台，系统地测试平衡性、涌现性、健壮性和学习性等逼真属性。目标在下面列出，并在后面的章节中详细说明：1.构建具有多个平衡的张拉整体模块，这些模块将(被动地)感知简单的环境并对其做出反应。为模块安装类似CPG的振荡器，能够感知整个网络中的感觉信息，并与相邻模块进行短距离通信，以实现移动3.用刺激较低级别的人工神经远程连接连接1级和2级，并调查系统是否可以被训练来表达简单形式的学习(例如，习惯化)4.成功的学习将使我们能够解决信息如何在系统中跨尺度移动的问题，并提供机会调查(I)“人工嵌合体”的可能性，即合并两个训练成达到不同平衡点的张力整合模块，并观察结果是什么。和/或(Ii)“机器人癌症”，即单个模块中断与其他模块的通信(如[16]所建议的)将如何影响网络。

This project aims to build a soft, three-level artificial platform to systematically test life-like properties like equilibrium, emergence, robustness, and learning. The objectives are listed below and detailed in later sections: 1. Build tensegrity modules with multiple equilibria that will (passively) sense and react to a simple environment2. Implement CPG-like oscillators for modules, capable to sense sensory information across the network and perform short-range communication with adjacent modules to achieve locomotion 3. Connect levels 1 and 2 with artificial neural long-distance connections stimulating the lower levels and investigate whether the system can be trained to express simple forms of learning (e.g., habituation)4. Successful learning would enable us to address how information moves across scales in a system and offer opportunities to investigate the possibility of (i) "artificial chimaeras", i.e., merging two tensegrity modules trained to reach different equilibrium points and observe what the result is, and/or (ii) "robot cancer", that is, how a single module breaking communication with others (as suggested by [16]) will affect the network.