AI successfully designs walking robots in seconds

It took billions of years for nature to evolve the first walking species, but humans have developed a new technology that can compress evolution to lightning speed and successfully design a walking animal in just a few seconds. The research results of Northwestern University in the United States were published in the first issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Not only is this program fast, it can also run on a personal computer and design completely new structures from scratch. The researchers say the AI-driven design algorithm they developed can bypass the "traffic jam" on the evolutionary road without relying on the ideas of human designers. Just tell the AI ​​"we want a robot that can cross the land" and press a button, and it generates a blueprint for a robot in the blink of an eye that looks completely different from any animal that has ever walked on the earth. This process is called "instant evolution" by the team.

The newly designed robots are small, squishy, ​​oddly shaped and currently made of inorganic materials, but researchers say they represent the first step in a new era of AI-designed tools that, like animals, can be directly applied in the real world.

The entire design process, from an invisible block with zero movement to a complete walking robot, took only 26 seconds on a laptop.

Even more surprising is that AI alone came up with the same walking solution as nature: legs. But unlike nature's absolutely symmetrical design, AI took a different approach. The resulting robot has three legs, fins on its back, and a flat face covered with holes.

While the evolution of legs makes sense, the holes are a strange addition. The AI ​​punched holes in seemingly random places on the robot's body. The researchers hypothesized that the porosity would reduce weight and increase flexibility, allowing the robot to bend its legs and walk. When the researchers removed the holes, the robot could no longer walk.

"When humans design robots, we tend to design them to look like familiar objects," said the researchers. "But AI can create new possibilities and new paths forward that humans have never considered. It helps us think and imagine differently, which may help solve some of the most difficult problems we face today."

Humans can make tools and use them to work. Artificial intelligence is a representative of complex tools designed by humans - it is so advanced that it can design robots itself. The ability of artificial intelligence to design robots reminds people of their painting skills. Sometimes, after careful consideration, it is found that the works they design or create are not so in line with common sense. For example, the small animals drawn by artificial intelligence have 3 or even 5 legs, which is ridiculous. Despite this, the design or creation of artificial intelligence can still provide many new ideas and references for human designers and creators.

Editor: Huang Fei