How did life emerge? Could it exist elsewhere? Could we even synthesize life – a system that is self-sustaining, self-replicating and evolving? The TUM Innovation Network for Robot Intelligence in the Synthesis of Life (RISE) aims to develop a radically new approach to these centuries-old questions, combining machine learning and robotics with chemical and biophysical experiments.
Robots will not only take tedious tasks out of the scientists’ hands, but actually become part of the experiments. By allowing the robots to observe data in real-time, let them analyze experiments, and, via artificial intelligence, change the course of the experiments, the scientists anticipate that a self-learning experiment evolves towards a system that displays the essential hallmarks of life. It is a development with the potential to revolutionize research and development in both industry and academia.