Peter Nordin (9 August 1965 – 12 October 2020), born in Helsingborg, Sweden, was a Swedish computer scientist, entrepreneur, and author who contributed to artificial intelligence, automatic programming, machine learning, and evolutionary robotics. His fields of interest also included text mining and complex systems, and his career was associated with iRobis, the University of Dortmund, Chalmers University of Technology, and the University of Gothenburg.
Studies and early career
Peter Nordin was born in 1965 in Helsingborg but moved to Gothenburg in 1967, where he was raised. He began studies at Chalmers University of Technology in 1984, completed an M.S. in computer science and engineering in 1988, and studied economics. He then worked as a knowledge engineer for the artificial intelligence (AI) company Infologics AB in Sweden, where he began his research, focusing on the research and development of knowledge-based systems and complex system configuration.[2,4] His work led to several European research projects (ESPRIT), including projects in machine learning (autonomous vehicles) and methodologies for AI system development.[3]
Nordin began his research in Genetic Programming (GP) in 1992.[5] In 1993, he started the research and development company Dacapo AB.[7,6] He invented a method for automatic induction of binary machine code using genetic programming and researched how to produce machine code with genetic programming.[8] Nordin spent a large portion of 1995 and 1996 at the University of Dortmund, where he completed his doctoral studies, initiated research in evolutionary robotics, and demonstrated that GP can be used for real-time, on-line training and control of robotic systems.[10,11,12] In 1997, he co-founded the American company RML Technologies, Inc. with commercial GP software.[9] In 1998, he co-authored a textbook on genetic programming.[13]
Peter Nordin created the search engine company VILL AB (with the global search engine wannasee.com) as well as another AI company, Tific AB for automated support, in 1999, and received the year's Sten Gustafsson prize for entrepreneuring awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.[17,14,15] At the time, he was also the co-founder of Chalmers's Medialab and served on the board of the Swedish AI Society.[19,18] He was also chair of the second European Conference on Genetic Programming, EuroGP 1999, which is now part of EvoStar.
Career summary and research
Peter Nordin earned a degree in computer science and engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1988, and a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Dortmund in 1997. His earlier research included evolutionary software architecture for robotics, the invention of evolutionary induction of mathematical proofs and of binary machine language, speech and vision recognition, and linear genetic programming for internet search.[47,43,44,45,46] He also researched the analysis of genetic programming through complexity theory.[48]
His later research included commercial evolutionary robotics software and software for a complete cognitive system for robots.[42,41] Peter Nordin was also the inventor of the ALLAN-method for Artificial General Intelligence based on complexity measures, namely Speed Prior using random strings as reinforcement to create a Universal Artificial Intelligence.[49]
Robots and commercialization of AI
During 1998–2003, he was an associate professor at Chalmers' complex adaptive systems (CAS), where he co-founded and for a short period led an international master's degree program. He led the master's program and supervised the construction of GP-based adaptive physical robots. During this time, he also started Chalmers's Humanoid Project, which resulted in Sweden's first full-scale humanoid robots: Elvis, Elvina, and Priscilla, which currently reside in Sweden's National Museum of Science and Technology.[24,23] Robots from the Humanoid Project participated in "RoboCup" soccer matches for humanoid robots, and he also founded the first European company for humanoid technology, the Estonian company European Humanoids OY.[27,25] Several of Nordin's students have created their own humanoid projects, such as Davide Faconti with the REEM-B robot and Almir Heralic with HR2.[29,28]
Much of this earlier work focused on evolutionary robotic training methods for problem solving, sound and image processing, perception, and advanced non-linear low-level control. Robots have also learned to walk on two legs without having foreknowledge by simulating the behaviour.[30] The robot Elvis attracted some media interest internationally, and the world's first flying "flapping" adaptive ornithopter robot appeared in television and other media.[32,33] The popular science book "Humanoider: Självlärande robotar och artificiell intelligens" was one result of this public interest.[35,34]
During his time at Chalmers, he started another ten spin-off companies based on his research. He had a number of patents, all related to genetic programming and evolutionary methods.[37] He was a co-founder of the Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia, and from 2013 was an adjoint professor at Chalmers in Göteborg, Sweden. Nordin was seen in the public debate on treatment of gifted children and is an advisor for the Mensa International Process, with both he and his wife being active members of Mensa International. He lived with his wife Carina and 6 children outside Gothenburg in Askim.[39]
External links
External links include "RoboBusiness: Robots that Dream of Being Better", "Sweden: The Land of Robots", and the Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia AB (iRobis). Other relevant links include The Humanoid Project and HR-2.
