Evolutionary fabrication
Timothy J. Kuehn · 2012
Evolutionary algorithms have had success in designing complex objects, ranging from antennae to telescope lenses. However, evolutionary design is limited by the ability of a simulation to accurately represent the physical world. Additionally, evolved designs carry no set of specific instructions describing how to physically create such a design. Our approach, called Evolutionary Fabrication, evolves a \emph{process} rather than a product. This system of evolution can, in principle, automatically invent and build anything, from soft robots to new toys. We have implemented Evolutionary Fabrication in designing "EvoFab", a machine that consists of four components: A) a genotype for printing objects, consisting of a linear set of instructions sent to a [email protected], an open-source 3D printer; B) a way to evaluate printed objects using custom machine vision algorithms; C) a way to automate printing by implementing a custom conveyor belt; D) a way of elaborating upon designs by implementing a genetic algorithm. In the near term, we aim to produce an evolved arch. Current results indicate increased fitness over time. Future improvements are possible through restrictions in extrusion along the Y-axis as well as refining fitness evaluation to be less exploitable.