The morphological paradigm in robotics

Abstract

In the paper, we are going to show how robotics is undergoing a shift in a bionic direction after a period of emphasis on artificial intelligence and increasing computational efficiency, which included isolation and extreme specialization. We assemble these new developments under the label of the morphological paradigm. The change in its paradigms and the development of alternatives to the principles that dominated robotics for a long time contains a more general epistemological significance. The role of body, material, environment, interaction and the paradigmatic status of biological and evolutionary systems for the principles of control are crucial here. Our focus will be on the introduction of the morphological paradigm in a new type of robotics and to contrast the interests behind this development with the interests shaping former models. The article aims to give a clear account of the changes in principles of orientation and control as well as concluding general observation in terms of historical epistemology, suggesting further political-epistemological analysis.

Keywords: Bionics; Embodied cognition; Morphological computation; Morphology; Principles of orientation and control; Soft robotics.