11,057 research outputs found
A biologically inspired meta-control navigation system for the Psikharpax rat robot
A biologically inspired navigation system for the mobile rat-like robot named Psikharpax is presented, allowing for self-localization and autonomous navigation in an initially unknown environment. The ability of parts of the model (e. g. the strategy selection mechanism) to reproduce rat behavioral data in various maze tasks has been validated before in simulations. But the capacity of the model to work on a real robot platform had not been tested. This paper presents our work on the implementation on the Psikharpax robot of two independent navigation strategies (a place-based planning strategy and a cue-guided taxon strategy) and a strategy selection meta-controller. We show how our robot can memorize which was the optimal strategy in each situation, by means of a reinforcement learning algorithm. Moreover, a context detector enables the controller to quickly adapt to changes in the environment-recognized as new contexts-and to restore previously acquired strategy preferences when a previously experienced context is recognized. This produces adaptivity closer to rat behavioral performance and constitutes a computational proposition of the role of the rat prefrontal cortex in strategy shifting. Moreover, such a brain-inspired meta-controller may provide an advancement for learning architectures in robotics
Cellular Automata Applications in Shortest Path Problem
Cellular Automata (CAs) are computational models that can capture the
essential features of systems in which global behavior emerges from the
collective effect of simple components, which interact locally. During the last
decades, CAs have been extensively used for mimicking several natural processes
and systems to find fine solutions in many complex hard to solve computer
science and engineering problems. Among them, the shortest path problem is one
of the most pronounced and highly studied problems that scientists have been
trying to tackle by using a plethora of methodologies and even unconventional
approaches. The proposed solutions are mainly justified by their ability to
provide a correct solution in a better time complexity than the renowned
Dijkstra's algorithm. Although there is a wide variety regarding the
algorithmic complexity of the algorithms suggested, spanning from simplistic
graph traversal algorithms to complex nature inspired and bio-mimicking
algorithms, in this chapter we focus on the successful application of CAs to
shortest path problem as found in various diverse disciplines like computer
science, swarm robotics, computer networks, decision science and biomimicking
of biological organisms' behaviour. In particular, an introduction on the first
CA-based algorithm tackling the shortest path problem is provided in detail.
After the short presentation of shortest path algorithms arriving from the
relaxization of the CAs principles, the application of the CA-based shortest
path definition on the coordinated motion of swarm robotics is also introduced.
Moreover, the CA based application of shortest path finding in computer
networks is presented in brief. Finally, a CA that models exactly the behavior
of a biological organism, namely the Physarum's behavior, finding the
minimum-length path between two points in a labyrinth is given.Comment: To appear in the book: Adamatzky, A (Ed.) Shortest path solvers. From
software to wetware. Springer, 201
Artificial Intelligence and Systems Theory: Applied to Cooperative Robots
This paper describes an approach to the design of a population of cooperative
robots based on concepts borrowed from Systems Theory and Artificial
Intelligence. The research has been developed under the SocRob project, carried
out by the Intelligent Systems Laboratory at the Institute for Systems and
Robotics - Instituto Superior Tecnico (ISR/IST) in Lisbon. The acronym of the
project stands both for "Society of Robots" and "Soccer Robots", the case study
where we are testing our population of robots. Designing soccer robots is a
very challenging problem, where the robots must act not only to shoot a ball
towards the goal, but also to detect and avoid static (walls, stopped robots)
and dynamic (moving robots) obstacles. Furthermore, they must cooperate to
defeat an opposing team. Our past and current research in soccer robotics
includes cooperative sensor fusion for world modeling, object recognition and
tracking, robot navigation, multi-robot distributed task planning and
coordination, including cooperative reinforcement learning in cooperative and
adversarial environments, and behavior-based architectures for real time task
execution of cooperating robot teams
Dance Teaching by a Robot: Combining Cognitive and Physical Human-Robot Interaction for Supporting the Skill Learning Process
This letter presents a physical human-robot interaction scenario in which a
robot guides and performs the role of a teacher within a defined dance training
framework. A combined cognitive and physical feedback of performance is
proposed for assisting the skill learning process. Direct contact cooperation
has been designed through an adaptive impedance-based controller that adjusts
according to the partner's performance in the task. In measuring performance, a
scoring system has been designed using the concept of progressive teaching
(PT). The system adjusts the difficulty based on the user's number of practices
and performance history. Using the proposed method and a baseline constant
controller, comparative experiments have shown that the PT presents better
performance in the initial stage of skill learning. An analysis of the
subjects' perception of comfort, peace of mind, and robot performance have
shown a significant difference at the p < .01 level, favoring the PT algorithm.Comment: Presented at IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
ICRA-201
Proprioceptive Robot Collision Detection through Gaussian Process Regression
This paper proposes a proprioceptive collision detection algorithm based on
Gaussian Regression. Compared to sensor-based collision detection and other
proprioceptive algorithms, the proposed approach has minimal sensing
requirements, since only the currents and the joint configurations are needed.
The algorithm extends the standard Gaussian Process models adopted in learning
the robot inverse dynamics, using a more rich set of input locations and an
ad-hoc kernel structure to model the complex and non-linear behaviors due to
frictions in quasi-static configurations. Tests performed on a Universal Robots
UR10 show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm to detect when a
collision has occurred.Comment: Published at ACC 201
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