{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:32:09Z","timestamp":1760146329255,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,25]],"date-time":"2024-10-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1729814400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"UKRI-EPSRC","award":["EP\/R03561X","EP\/R035733","EP\/R035679"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EP\/R03561X","EP\/R035733","EP\/R035679"]}]},{"name":"the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam","award":["EP\/R03561X","EP\/R035733","EP\/R035679"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EP\/R03561X","EP\/R035733","EP\/R035679"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Robotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The discrepancy between simulated and hardware experiments, the reality gap, is a challenge in evolutionary robotics. While strategies have been proposed to address this gap in fixed-body robots, they are not viable when dealing with populations and generations where the body is in constant change. The continual evolution of body designs necessitates the manufacturing of new robotic structures, a process that can be time-consuming if carried out manually. Moreover, the increased manufacturing time not only prolongs hardware experimental durations but also disrupts the synergy between hardware and simulated experiments. Failure to effectively manage these challenges could impede the implementation of evolutionary robotics in real-life environments. The Autonomous Robot Evolution project presents a framework to tackle these challenges through a case study. This paper describes the main three contributions of this work: Firstly, it analyses the different reality gap experienced by each different robot or the heterogenous reality gap. Secondly, it emphasizes the importance of automation in robot manufacturing. And thirdly, it highlights the necessity of a framework to orchestrate the synergy between simulated and hardware experiments. In the long term, integrating these contributions into evolutionary robotics is envisioned to enable the continuous production of robots in real-world environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/robotics13110157","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,25]],"date-time":"2024-10-25T07:51:29Z","timestamp":1729842689000},"page":"157","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Towards a Unified Framework for Software-Hardware Integration in Evolutionary Robotics"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6587-8808","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edgar","family":"Buchanan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK"}]},{"given":"L\u00e9ni","family":"Le Goff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK"}]},{"given":"Matthew","family":"Hale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK"}]},{"given":"Emma","family":"Hart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK"}]},{"given":"Agoston","family":"Eiben","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}]},{"given":"Matteo","family":"De Carlo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6140-2623","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mike","family":"Angus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK"}]},{"given":"Robert","family":"Woolley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK"}]},{"given":"Jon","family":"Timmis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3UX, UK"}]},{"given":"Alan","family":"Winfield","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8533-2404","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andy","family":"Tyrrell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Eiben, A.E., Hart, E., Timmis, J., Tyrrell, A.M., and Winfield, A.F. 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