A Real-World Ecosystem featuring several Robot Species

This paper presents an artiicial ecosystem embedded in the real world. The ecosystem hosts diierent robotic species linked together in their search for \food" in form of electrical energy. The paper deals with four species: the so-called \moles", the \competitors", the \mouse", and the \head". The diierences between species are quite substantial. For example the \moles" have simple sensing capabilities whereas the \mouse" is equipped with vision. The \competitors" are a kind of parasite whereas the \head" depends on cooperation. These diierences lead us to the notion of the so-called intelligence in terms of features. We present its relation to self-preservation and what follows is an additional support of the viewpoint that for an animat its environment has to be taken into account.