Algodoo

Starting out, Robo Dog can barely walk. But over time he learns how to move his legs more efficiently and the distance he travels improves. This scene is a very basic self-learning algorithm. The dog has only one moving joint per leg, and so his movement looks very unnatural, but that doesn't matter. The fact that he improves over time is what's important.

Just start the scene and sit back and watch Robo Dog improve the distance that he moves. The scene has no end goal, and so Robo Dog will continue to improve forever! You may not see much improvement for 15 minutes or longer.

There is more technical information in the scene.

UPDATE: Added a moving display that indicates which argument (Amplitude or Frequency) of which leg is currently being changed and tested.