Reading List
If you want to know more about our work on morphological computation, here is reading list to get you started. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us: helmut.hauser@bristol.ac.uk
Popular Science
As good starting point is our popular science article on Robohub called
“Morphological computation: The hidden superpower of soft-bodied robots”
https://robohub.org/morphological-computation-the-hidden-superpower-of-soft-bodied-robots/
Commentaries
H Hauser and J Hughes
”Morphological computation—Past, present and future”
Cell Press Device
https://www.cell.com/device/fulltext/S2666-9986(24)00282-5
Science Robotics Paper
M Garrad, G Soter, AT Conn, H Hauser, J Rossiter
”A soft matter computer for soft robots”
Science Robotics 4 (33), eaaw6060
https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/scirobotics.aaw6060
Theoretical Models
If you want to go deep into theoretical models on morphological computation here are our theory papers. Note that they are quite intense as they are written for an audience with a mathematical machine learning background.
The underlying idea is to apply the concept of reservoir computing to networks of nonlinear mass-spring-damper systems which are a good way to describe biological and soft bodies.
Hauser, H.; Ijspeert, A.; Füchslin, R.; Pfeifer, R. & Maass, W.
"Towards a theoretical foundation for morphological computation with compliant bodies"
Biological Cybernetics, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 2011, 105, 355-370
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j236312507300638/
Hauser, H.; Ijspeert, A.; Füchslin, R.; Pfeifer, R. & Maass, W.
"The role of feedback in morphological computation with compliant bodies"
Biological Cybernetics, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 2012, 106, 595-613
http://www.springerlink.com/content/d54t39qh28561271/
More high-level discussion on implications of these models
Helmut Hauser, Rudolf M. Füchslin, Kohei Nakajima
“Morphological Computation – The Physical Body as a Computational Resource”
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zg79mw35nvq4bba/Chapter_20_Hauser.pdf?dl=0
An more updated version of this discussion can be found here:
Helmut Hauser
”Physical Reservoir Computing in Robotics”
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-13-1687-6_8
Hauser, Helmut ; Sumioka, Hidenobu ; Füchslin, Rudolf Marcel ; Pfeifer, Rolf
“Introduction to the Special Issue on Morphological Computation”
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/72787/1/artl_e_00083-Hauser.pdf
Implementation of Morphological Computation in real robots
Nakajima, K.; Hauser H.; Li T.; and Pfeifer R.
"Information processing via physical soft body"
Scientific Reports 5 (2015) Article number: 10487,
doi:10.1038/srep10487
http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150527/srep10487/full/srep10487.html
Nakajima K.; Li T.; Hauser H.; and Pfeifer R.
"Exploiting short-term memory in soft body dynamics as a computational resource"
Journal Royal Society Interface, 6 November, 2014, vol. 11, no. 100, 20140437
DOI: 10.1098/ rsif.2014.0437
http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/100/20140437.short
Morphological Computation and Control
A good starting point about morphological computation and control can work together
Helmut Hauser; Thrishantha Nanayakkara; Fulvio Forni
”Leveraging Morphological Computation for Controlling Soft Robots: Learning from Nature to Control Soft Robots”
in IEEE Control Systems Magazine, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 114-129, June 2023,
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10136438
Rudolf M. Füchslin, Andrej Dzyakanchuk, Dandolo Flumini, Helmut Hauser, Kenneth J. Hunt, Rolf H. Luchsinger, Benedikt Reller, Stephan Scheidegger, and Richard Walker
”Morphological computation and morphological control: steps toward a formal theory and applications”
in Artificial Life 19 (1), 9-34, 2013
https://direct.mit.edu/artl/article/19/1/9/2747
”Soft Robotics: An Introduction to the Special Issue”
in IEEE Control Systems Magazine, Volume: 43, Issue: 3, June 2023
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10136405
Free e-book on Morphological Computation
This is an e-book we organized in 2014
https://www.morphologicalcomputation.org/e-book
Simulation Code:
If you interested in implementing our mass-spring-damper systems, here is some code.
Matlab:
https://github.com/helmuthauser/Matlab_Morphological_Computation_Simulation
C++ Implementation:
https://github.com/AlanQuille/Nonlinear-Mass-Spring-System-BR