ICES 2014 Keynote Speaker
Alan Winfield
Title: Robot bodies and how to evolve them
Brief abstract: While the theory and practice of evolutionary robotics is well established, most work to date has been concerned with evolving a robot's control system – it's software. In this talk I will address the much more difficult problem of how to evolve robot hardware – a robot's physical body shape (morphology) and the arrangement of sensors and actuators within that body. Of course bodies and brains must co-evolve, but co-evolving robot hardware and software remains deeply challenging for all but the simplest behaviours. I will conclude the talk by reflecting on the evolution of complexity in both evolutionary biology and robotics.
Biography
Alan Winfield is Professor of Electronic Engineering and Director of the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, and Visiting Professor at the University of York. He received his PhD in Digital Communications from the University of Hull in 1984, then co-founded and led APD Communications Ltd until taking-up appointment at UWE, Bristol in 1991. Winfield co-founded, with Chris Melhuish and Owen Holland, the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and his current research is focussed on the engineering and scientific applications of Swarm Intelligence. He is committed to the widest possible dissemination of research and ideas in science, engineering and technology. He led UK-wide EPSRC public engagement project Walking with Robots, awarded the 2010 Royal Academy of Engineering Rooke medal for public promotion of engineering. His latest book, Robotics: A Very Short Introduction, was published by Oxford University Press in September 2012.