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To summarize, in this paper we have:
1. defined a new swarm robotics task (MAMTSS)
2. solved MAMTSS using neuro-evolution, with
both novelty and objective-based search yielding
better than human-designed performance
3. tested these neurocontrollers and showed
verisimilitude between the simulation and the
physical robots.
4. characterized the resulting swarm behavior for
various neurocontrollers
Even though our formulation of the MAMTSS
robot exploration task turned out to be simpler than
anticipated, this study still provides one more data
point that explores the relative trade-offs between
novelty and objective-based search within the domain
of neuroevolution for swarm robotics.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Augustana College for its support of this
project through internal research grants.
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Novelty and Objective-based Neuroevolution of a Physical Robot Swarm
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