For the first time, a field programmable transistor array (FPTA) was used to evolve robot control circuits directly in analog hardware. Controllers were successfully incrementally evolved for a physical robot engaged in a series of visually guided behaviours, including finding a target in a complex environment where the goal was hidden from most locations. Circuits for recognising spoken commands were also evolved and these were used in conjunction with the controllers to enable voice control of the robot, triggering behavioural switching. Poor quality visual sensors were deliberately used to test the ability of evolved analog circuits to deal with noisy uncertain data in realtime. Visual features were coevolved with the controllers to automatically achieve dimensionality reduction and feature extraction and selection in an integrated way. An efficient new method was developed for simulating the robot in its visual environment. This allowed controllers to be evaluated in a simulation connected to the FPTA. The controllers then transferred seamlessly to the real world. The circuit replication issue was also addressed in experiments where circuits were evolved to be able to function correctly in multiple areas of the FPTA. A methodology was developed to analyse the evolved circuits which provided insights into their operation. Comparative experiments demonstrated the superior evolvability of the transistor array medium.

中文翻译：

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改进的晶体管阵列机器人控制器

首次使用现场可编程晶体管阵列 (FPTA) 直接在模拟硬件中改进机器人控制电路。对于从事一系列视觉引导行为的物理机器人，控制器成功地逐步进化，包括在目标隐藏在大多数位置的复杂环境中寻找目标。用于识别语音命令的电路也得到了发展，这些电路与控制器结合使用，以实现机器人的语音控制，触发行为切换。质量差的视觉传感器被故意用来测试进化的模拟电路实时处理嘈杂的不确定数据的能力。视觉特征与控制器共同进化，以集成的方式自动实现降维和特征提取和选择。开发了一种在视觉环境中模拟机器人的有效新方法。这允许在连接到 FPTA 的模拟中评估控制器。然后控制器无缝地转移到现实世界。电路复制问题也在实验中得到解决，其中电路进化为能够在 FPTA 的多个区域正确运行。开发了一种方法来分析演化的电路，从而深入了解其操作。对比实验证明了晶体管阵列介质的优越演进性。电路复制问题也在实验中得到解决，其中电路进化为能够在 FPTA 的多个区域正确运行。开发了一种方法来分析演化的电路，从而深入了解其操作。对比实验证明了晶体管阵列介质的优越演进性。电路复制问题也在实验中得到解决，其中电路进化为能够在 FPTA 的多个区域正确运行。开发了一种方法来分析演化的电路，从而深入了解其操作。对比实验证明了晶体管阵列介质的优越演进性。