FIGURE 2.

Simplified example of implementation of flexible design approach for a locomotion task. Tasks in grey blocks are expected to be executed by the designer/user. The system design can be initialized even with poor a priori knowledge, with some arbitrariness, but possibly with high redundancy; the system is then left free to interact with the environment and through action/perception loops it collects data that are used for the evaluation process (performed by the designer or possibly by the system itself); if an optimal behaviour is not reached, body components undergo functional modifications (thanks to their multifunctionality) and another iteration starts; this is repeated until an optimal behaviour is reached. Letter change indicates the change of functionality thanks to dynamic multifunctionality; fluidic tubing exploited as additional spring element (in yellow) represents a static multifunctionality; synergistic multifunctionality is highlighted in violet where actuators can couple their action.