Dynamic Robot for Embodied Testing (DyRET)

DyRET is a four legged (quadruped) robot designed to be a robust and versatile platform for evolutionary experiments with the unique capability of self-changing morphology. The robot runs on ROS, and uses Gazebo for simulated experiments.

Documentation

The wiki contains all documentation for how to setup and interact with DyRET.

License

DyRET is a certified open source hardware project, and both code and design is freely available. All software is available under the GPL-3 license, and the hardware is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Please keep references to the DyRET project and cite the fundamental paper if used in academic work. Bibtex reference is provided below:

@inproceedings{nygaard_ICRA19,
  author        = {T{\o}nnes F. Nygaard and
                   Charles P. Martin and
                   Jim Torresen and
                   Kyrre Glette},
  title         = {{Self-Modifying Morphology Experiments with DyRET:
                   Dynamic Robot for Embodied Testing}},
  booktitle     = {{IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)}},
  year          = {2019},
  volume        = {},
  number        = {},
  pages         = {}
}

Sub-repositories

The following packages are all based on ROS and tested with Kinetic, Lunar and Melodic. All documentation is on the common wiki, and not in individual repositories.

Software

• dyret_common
  • This package contains the shared messages and services for DyRET.
• dyret_hardware
  • ROS integration for real-world robot.
• dyret_simulation
  • ROS/Gazebo simulation of DyRET.
• dyret_controller
  • Inverse kinematic controller for DyRET.

Hardware and firmware

• dyret_actuatorBoard
  • This package contains the firmware and PCB design of the actuatorBoard.

The CAD design is currently available as a zip-download, but future versions will be converted to a version-controlled release.

Media

Please visit our Youtube channel for videos of DyRET. Press photos and non-watermarked videos available to journalists and others on request.

Techxplore.com, 16. april 2019
Interview about our work integrating foot sensors on DyRET.

Wired.com, 28. june 2018
Video about bio-mimicry including DyRET and other interesting robots.

Nbcnews.com, 25. june 2018
Video showing DyRET and some outdoor experiments.

Digitaltrends.com, 23. may 2018
Short interview about the DyRET robot and evolutionary robotics.

Wired.com, 18. may 2018
Interview about the DyRET robot and our work at the University.

Papers

Papers that describe or utilize DyRET for experiments. The list is reverse chronological order, and the platform paper is highlighted.

• Evolved embodied phase coordination enables robust quadruped robot locomotion (to appear in GECCO 2019)
• Self-Modifying Morphology Experiments with DyRET: Dynamic Robot for Embodied Testing (to appear in ICRA 2019)
• Evolving Robots on Easy Mode: Towards a Variable Complexity Controller for Quadrupeds (EvoStar 2019)
• Dynamic mutation in MAP-Elites for robotic repertoire generation (ALIFE 2018)
• Real-World Evolution Adapts Robot Morphology and Control to Hardware Limitations (GECCO 2018)
• Combining MAP-Elites and Incremental Evolution to Generate Gaits for a Mammalian Quadruped Robot (EvoStar 2018)
• Multi-objective Evolution of Fast and Stable Gaits on a Physical Quadruped Robotic Platform (ICES 2016)

Contact us

If you have suggestions or questions on the documentation or use of the robot, please create an issue on Github so answers and solutions can be shared with others.

For other inquiries, please send an email: tonnesfn@ifi.uio.no