# The Dynamic of Body and Brain Co-Evolution

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.11440 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.11440/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 23 Nov 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [The Effects of Learning in Morphologically Evolving Robot Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.09851/) (2021)
- [Learning and evolution: factors influencing an effective combination](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.11761/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce a method that permits to co-evolve the body and the control properties of robots. It can be used to adapt the morphological traits of robots with a hand-designed morphological bauplan or to evolve the morphological bauplan as well. Our results indicate that robots with co-adapted body and control traits outperform robots with fixed hand-designed morphologies. Interestingly, the advantage is not due to the selection of better morphologies but rather to the mutual scaffolding process that results from the possibility to co-adapt the morphological traits to the control traits and vice versa. Our results also demonstrate that morphological variations do not necessarily have destructive effects on robot skills.