Evolved and Designed Self-Reproducing Modular Robotics

TLDR

Robotic systems rely on durable hardware for long‑term survivability, whereas biological systems achieve sustainability through self‑repair and self‑reproduction. The study demonstrates a large space of robots capable of autonomous self‑reproduction. The robots consist of actuated modules equipped with electromagnets that control assembly morphology. The authors built diverse 2‑D and 3‑D machines ranging from 3 to 2n modules, with two physical prototypes each reproducing twice, demonstrating both automatically generated and manually designed morphologies.

Abstract

Long-term physical survivability of most robotic systems today is achieved through durable hardware. In contrast, most biological systems are not made of robust materials; long-term sustainability and evolutionary adaptation in nature are provided through processes of self-repair and, ultimately, self-reproduction. Here we demonstrate a large space of possible robots capable of autonomous self-reproduction. These robots are composed of actuated modules equipped with electromagnets to selectively control the morphology of the robotic assembly. We show a variety of 2-D and 3-D machines from 3 to 2n modules, and two physical implementations that each achieves two generations of reproduction. We show both automatically generated and manually designed morphologies