Cornell robot discovers itself and adapts to injury when it loses one of its limbs

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov06/ResilientRobot.ws.html

To quote:

So Cornell researchers have built a robot that works out its own model of itself and can revise the model to adapt to injury. First, it teaches itself to walk. Then, when damaged, it teaches itself to limp.

Although the test robot is a simple four-legged device, the researchers say the underlying algorithm could be used to build more complex robots that can deal with uncertain situations, like space exploration, and may help in understanding human and animal behavior.

The research, reported in the latest issue (Nov. 17) of the journal Science, was carried out in the Cornell Computational Synthesis Lab under Hod Lipson, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, with Josh Bongard, a former Cornell postdoctoral researcher now on the faculty at the University of Vermont, and Cornell graduate student Viktor Zykov.

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The researchers limited the robot to 16 test cycles with space exploration in mind. "You don't want a robot on Mars thrashing around in the sand too much and possibly causing more damage," Bongard explained.

The underlying algorithm, the researchers said, could be applied to much more complex machines and also could allow robots to adapt to changes in environment and repair themselves by replacing parts. The work also could have other applications in computing and could lead to better understanding of animal cognition. In a way, Bongard said, the robot is "conscious" on a primitive level, because it thinks to itself, "What would happen if I do this?"

"Whether humans or animals are conscious in a similar way -- do we also think in terms of a self-image, and rehearse actions in our head before trying them out -- is still an open question," he said.