{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T16:31:04Z","timestamp":1753893064210,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,4]],"date-time":"2023-10-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1696377600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Robot. AI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>While evolutionary robotics can create novel morphologies and controllers that are well-adapted to their environments, learning is still the most efficient way to adapt to changes that occur on shorter time scales. Learning proposals for evolving robots to date have focused on new individuals either learning a controller from scratch, or building on the experience of direct ancestors and\/or robots with similar configurations. Here we propose and demonstrate a novel means for social learning of gait patterns, based on sensorimotor synchronization. Using movement patterns of other robots as input can drive nonlinear decentralized controllers such as CPGs into new limit cycles, hence encouraging diversity of movement patterns. Stable autonomous controllers can then be locked in, which we demonstrate using a quasi-Hebbian feedback scheme. We propose that in an ecosystem of robots evolving in a heterogeneous environment, such a scheme may allow for the emergence of generalist task-solvers from a population of specialists.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2023.1232708","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,4]],"date-time":"2023-10-04T14:03:06Z","timestamp":1696428186000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["From real-time adaptation to social learning in robot ecosystems"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Alex","family":"Szorkovszky","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"Veenstra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kyrre","family":"Glette","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,4]]},"reference":[{"volume-title":"Online damage recovery for physical robots with hierarchical quality-diversity","year":"2022","author":"Allard","key":"B1"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"R1136","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2022.08.070","article-title":"Culture in birds","volume":"32","author":"Aplin","year":"2022","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20130414","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2013.0414","article-title":"Dyadic brain modelling, mirror systems and the ontogenetic ritualization of ape gesture","volume":"369","author":"Arbib","year":"2014","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1111\/cogs.12142","article-title":"Information processing and dynamics in minimally cognitive agents","volume":"39","author":"Beer","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cognitive Sci."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1075\/aicr.42.27bil","article-title":"Mirror neurons and the neural basis for learning by imitation: Computational modeling","volume-title":"Mirror neurons and the evolution of brain and language","author":"Billard","year":"2002"},{"volume-title":"Culture and the evolutionary process","year":"1985","author":"Boyd","key":"B6"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10918","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1100290108","article-title":"The cultural niche: why social learning is essential for human adaptation","volume":"108","author":"Boyd","year":"2011","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20200309","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2020.0309","article-title":"Social learning in swarm robotics","volume":"377","author":"Bredeche","year":"2022","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3903","DOI":"10.1109\/IROS.2006.281802","article-title":"Finding resonance: adaptive frequency oscillators for dynamic legged locomotion","volume-title":"2006 IEEE\/RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems","author":"Buchli","year":"2006"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"754","DOI":"10.1109\/tevc.2009.2017516","article-title":"From fireflies to fault-tolerant swarms of robots","volume":"13","author":"Christensen","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-30229-9_9","article-title":"A multi-brain approach for multiple tasks in evolvable robots","volume-title":"International conference on the applications of evolutionary computation (part of EvoStar)","author":"de Bruin","year":"2023"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1145\/3449726.3459562","article-title":"The impact of different tasks on evolved robot morphologies","volume-title":"Proceedings of the genetic and evolutionary computation conference companion","author":"De Carlo","year":"2021"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"577","DOI":"10.1109\/tevc.2013.2281535","article-title":"An evolutionary many-objective optimization algorithm using reference-point-based nondominated sorting approach, part i: solving problems with box constraints","volume":"18","author":"Deb","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2015.00004","article-title":"Evolutionary robotics: what, why, and where to","volume":"2","author":"Doncieux","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front. Robotics AI"},{"key":"B15","first-page":"1","article-title":"The triangle of life: evolving robots in real-time and real-space","volume-title":"European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL-2013)","author":"Eiben","year":"2013"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"744590","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2021.744590","article-title":"Robot evolution: ethical concerns","volume":"8","author":"Eiben","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Robotics AI"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"013125","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0019974","article-title":"Multifunctionality in a reservoir computer","volume":"31","author":"Flynn","year":"2021","journal-title":"Chaos Interdiscip. J. Nonlinear Sci."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18970","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0804451105","article-title":"Memory traces in dynamical systems","volume":"105","author":"Ganguli","year":"2008","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3650","DOI":"10.1109\/LRA.2020.2976639","article-title":"An open torque-controlled modular robot architecture for legged locomotion research","volume":"5","author":"Grimminger","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Robotics Automation Lett."},{"key":"B20","first-page":"95","article-title":"The are robot fabricator: how to (re) produce robots that can evolve in the real world","volume-title":"Artificial life conference proceedings","author":"Hale","year":"2019"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1145\/2739480.2754743","article-title":"Three-fold adaptivity in groups of robots: the effect of social learning","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2015 annual conference on genetic and evolutionary computation","author":"Heinerman","year":"2015"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1360","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1146282","article-title":"Humans have evolved specialized skills of social cognition: the cultural intelligence hypothesis","volume":"317","author":"Herrmann","year":"2007","journal-title":"science"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"444","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1551-6709.2010.01151.x","article-title":"Extending dynamical systems theory to model embodied cognition","volume":"35","author":"Hotton","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cognitive Sci."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6467","DOI":"10.1007\/s10489-021-02275-9","article-title":"Recent advances in evolutionary and bio-inspired adaptive robotics: exploiting embodied dynamics","volume":"51","author":"Husbands","year":"2021","journal-title":"Appl. Intell."},{"key":"B25","article-title":"Can mutual imitation generate open-ended evolution","volume-title":"Proceedings of Artificial Life 2021 workshop on OEE","author":"Ikegami","year":"2021"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1007\/s00422-005-0047-3","article-title":"Sensory feedback mechanism underlying entrainment of central pattern generator to mechanical resonance","volume":"94","author":"Iwasaki","year":"2006","journal-title":"Biol. Cybern."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"704","DOI":"10.1007\/3-540-59496-5_337","article-title":"Noise and the reality gap: the use of simulation in evolutionary robotics","volume-title":"Advances in artificial life: Third European conference on artificial life granada, Spain, june 4\u20136, 1995 proceedings 3","author":"Jakobi","year":"1995"},{"volume-title":"Unity: a general platform for intelligent agents","year":"2018","author":"Juliani","key":"B28"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4498","DOI":"10.1103\/physreve.59.4498","article-title":"Hebbian learning and spiking neurons","volume":"59","author":"Kempter","year":"1999","journal-title":"Phys. Rev. E"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"927","DOI":"10.1007\/s10514-018-9764-z","article-title":"A dynamical system approach to task-adaptation in physical human\u2013robot interaction","volume":"43","author":"Khoramshahi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Aut. Robots"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2021","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2008.0006","article-title":"Evolving intentions for social interaction: from entrainment to joint action","volume":"363","author":"Knoblich","year":"2008","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"925","DOI":"10.1038\/nn.3405","article-title":"Robust timing and motor patterns by taming chaos in recurrent neural networks","volume":"16","author":"Laje","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nat. Neurosci."},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295x.106.1.119","article-title":"The dynamics of attending: how people track time-varying events","volume":"106","author":"Large","year":"1999","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"507","DOI":"10.1109\/tcds.2022.3148543","article-title":"Morpho-evolution with learning using a controller archive as an inheritance mechanism","volume":"15","author":"Le Goff","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Cognitive Dev. Syst."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"593","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcss.2004.04.001","article-title":"On the computational power of circuits of spiking neurons","volume":"69","author":"Maass","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Comput. Syst. Sci."},{"key":"B36","first-page":"109","article-title":"Catastrophic interference in connectionist networks: the sequential learning problem","volume-title":"Psychology of learning and motivation","author":"McCloskey","year":"1989"},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3489","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2008.0129","article-title":"The multiple roles of cultural transmission experiments in understanding human cultural evolution","volume":"363","author":"Mesoudi","year":"2008","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.swevo.2011.11.003","article-title":"Memetic algorithms and memetic computing optimization: a literature review","volume":"2","author":"Neri","year":"2012","journal-title":"Swarm Evol. Comput."},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"435","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtbi.2004.10.025","article-title":"The self-organization of speech sounds","volume":"233","author":"Oudeyer","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Theor. Biol."},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"326","DOI":"10.1109\/tcds.2020.3041179","article-title":"Vocal imitation in sensorimotor learning models: a comparative review","volume":"13","author":"Pagliarini","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Cognitive Dev. Syst."},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.3389\/fnsys.2014.00057","article-title":"The evolutionary neuroscience of musical beat perception: the action simulation for auditory prediction (asap) hypothesis","volume":"8","author":"Patel","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Syst. Neurosci."},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/3585.001.0001","volume-title":"How the body shapes the way we think: a new view of intelligence","author":"Pfeifer","year":"2006"},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/0010-0277(90)90051-k","article-title":"The infant\u2019s theory of self-propelled objects","volume":"36","author":"Premack","year":"1990","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"40","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2016.00040","article-title":"Quality diversity: a new frontier for evolutionary computation","volume":"3","author":"Pugh","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Robotics AI"},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"297","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-control-100819-063206","article-title":"Recent advances in robot learning from demonstration","volume":"3","author":"Ravichandar","year":"2020","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Control, Robotics, Aut. Syst."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"0007","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-016-0007","article-title":"Musical evolution in the lab exhibits rhythmic universals","volume":"1","author":"Ravignani","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"831","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2009.03.061","article-title":"Spontaneous motor entrainment to music in multiple vocal mimicking species","volume":"19","author":"Schachner","year":"2009","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"B48","first-page":"793","article-title":"Identifying necessary conditions for open-ended evolution through the artificial life world of chromaria","volume-title":"Alife 14: the fourteenth international conference on the synthesis and simulation of living systems","author":"Soros","year":"2014"},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"224","DOI":"10.1038\/nphys1508","article-title":"Self-organized adaptation of a simple neural circuit enables complex robot behaviour","volume":"6","author":"Steingrube","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nat. Phys."},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"544","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2009.07.018","article-title":"Generating coherent patterns of activity from chaotic neural networks","volume":"63","author":"Sussillo","year":"2009","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"046020","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-3190\/ace017","article-title":"Central pattern generators evolved for real-time adaptation to rhythmic stimuli","volume":"18","author":"Szorkovszky","year":"","journal-title":"Bioinspiration Biomimetics"},{"key":"B52","first-page":"283","article-title":"Embodied tempo tracking with a virtual quadruped","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 20th sound and music computing conference","author":"Szorkovszky","year":""},{"key":"B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2162","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2013.09.005","article-title":"Coupled oscillator dynamics of vocal turn-taking in monkeys","volume":"23","author":"Takahashi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"B54","first-page":"540","article-title":"Exploring the concept of open-ended evolution","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 13th international conference on artificial life","author":"Taylor","year":"2012"},{"key":"B55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"eabf6354","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.abf6354","article-title":"Emergence of robust self-organized undulatory swimming based on local hydrodynamic force sensing","volume":"6","author":"Thandiackal","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. Robotics"},{"key":"B56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0145096","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0145096","article-title":"Learning to produce syllabic speech sounds via reward-modulated neural plasticity","volume":"11","author":"Warlaumont","year":"2016","journal-title":"PloS one"},{"key":"B57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2417","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2009.0069","article-title":"Emulation, imitation, over-imitation and the scope of culture for child and chimpanzee","volume":"364","author":"Whiten","year":"2009","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"B58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"eabe6514","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abe6514","article-title":"The burgeoning reach of animal culture","volume":"372","author":"Whiten","year":"2021","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B59","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1379","DOI":"10.1016\/s0893-6080(98)00048-3","article-title":"Neural control of rhythmic arm movements","volume":"11","author":"Williamson","year":"1998","journal-title":"Neural Netw."},{"key":"B60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"261","DOI":"10.1007\/s12293-011-0063-x","article-title":"On embodied memetic evolution and the emergence of behavioural traditions in robots","volume":"3","author":"Winfield","year":"2011","journal-title":"Memetic Comput."},{"key":"B61","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1597","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-023-37180-x","article-title":"Catalyzing next-generation artificial intelligence through neuroAI","volume":"14","author":"Zador","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Robotics and AI"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frobt.2023.1232708\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,4]],"date-time":"2023-10-04T14:03:19Z","timestamp":1696428199000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frobt.2023.1232708\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,4]]},"references-count":61,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/frobt.2023.1232708"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/frobt.2023.1232708","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-9144"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2296-9144"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,4]]},"article-number":"1232708"}}