Phylogenetic Models of Embodied Agents: an eco-evo-devo approach

One advantage to the embodiment approach is that bodies and their geometry are a key element in conferring intelligence on a computational agent. We present an approach that draws from the phylogenetic approach to cognition and the embryogenesis of biological forms. The eco-evo-devo approach allows us to construct various morphological and behavioral configurations by utilizing a phylogenetic approach to cognition. This is compared and contrasted with the cybernetic approach to cognition, which is a more standard approach to implementing computational agents. To demonstrate this, the biocybernetic Braitenberg Vehicle approach is subject to a phylogenetic analysis, which reveals an evolutionary development (evo-devo) model of embodiment origins. Computational agents achieve embodiment through a genotype-to-phenotype mapping where phylogenetic diversification amongst agents is driven by mutational and recombination events. Cognitive abilities are built upon common ancestry and refined by taxonomic-specific genotypic configurations. We then compare our approach to the cybernetic approach to cognition and how our approach differs. To reconcile some of these incompatibilities, we discuss dual inheritance models that further enable an eco-evo-devo approach to computational intelligence. Overall, our phylogenetic approach unifies the existing literature on evolutionary and developmental robotics, in addition to more clearly articulating these mechanisms in biological context.