Teaching Robots to Walk

This is an excellent demonstration of artificial intelligence, robots made from tree branches learn to walk through use of deep learning reinforcement (DRL), via BoingBoing.

Here’s the abstract from the research paper:

We present a study in the creative design of robots using found objects. In particular, this study focuses on learning locomotion techniques for robots with nontraditional and arbitrary shaped limbs, in this case, tree branches. Through a use of 3D scanning, simulation, and deep reinforcement learning, we show that we can effectively learn movement strategies for such robots with unorthodox shapes.

Improvised Robotic Design with Found Objects (pdf)