Premature convergence in morphology and control co-evolution: a study


Por: Eguiarte-Morett L., Aguilar W.

Publicada: 1 ene 2024 Ahead of Print: 1 sep 2023
Resumen:
This article addresses the co-evolution of morphology and control in evolutionary robotics, focusing on the challenge of premature convergence and limited morphological diversity. We conduct a comparative analysis of state-of-the-art algorithms, focusing on QD (Quality-Diversity) algorithms, based on a well-defined methodology for benchmarking evolutionary algorithms. We introduce carefully chosen indicators to evaluate their performance in three core aspects: task performance, phenotype diversity, and genotype diversity. Our findings highlight MNSLC (Multi-BC NSLC), with the introduction of aligned novelty to NSLC (Novelty Search with Local Competition), as the most effective algorithm for diversity preservation (genotype and phenotype diversity), while maintaining a competitive level of exploitability (task performance). MAP-Elites, although exhibiting a well-balanced trade-off between exploitation and exploration, fall short in protecting morphological diversity. NSLC, while showing similar performance to MNSLC in terms of exploration, is the least performant in terms of exploitation, contrasting with QN (Fitness-Novelty MOEA), which exhibits much superior exploitation, but inferior exploration, highlighting the effects of local competition in skewing the balance toward exploration. Our study provides valuable insights into the advantages, disadvantages, and trade-offs of different algorithms in co-evolving morphology and control. © The Author(s) 2023.

Filiaciones:
Eguiarte-Morett L.:
 Posgrado en Ciencia e Ingeniería de la Computación, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

Aguilar W.:
 Department of Computer Science, Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
ISSN: 10597123
Editorial
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 1 OLIVERS YARD, 55 CITY ROAD, LONDON EC1Y 1SP, ENGLAND, Reino Unido
Tipo de documento: Article
Volumen: 32 Número: 2
Páginas: 137-165
WOS Id: 001060706800001