Bayesian robot Programming

We propose a new method to program robots based on Bayesian inference and learning. The capacities of this programming method are demonstrated through a succession of increasingly complex experiments. Starting from the learning of simple reactive behaviors, we present instances of behavior combinations, sensor fusion, hierarchical behavior composition, situation recognition and temporal sequencing. This series of experiments comprises the steps in the incremental development of a complex robot program. The advantages and drawbacks of this approach are discussed along with these different experiments and summed up as a conclusion. These different robotics programs may be seen as an illustration of probabilistic programming applicable whenever one must deal with problems based on uncertain or incomplete knowledge. The scope of possible applications is obviously much broader than robotics

Teaching statistics in the physics curriculum: Unifying and clarifying role of subjective probability

Subjective probability is based on the intuitive idea that probability quantifies the degree of belief that an event will occur. A probability theory based on this idea represents the most general framework for handling uncertainty. A brief introduction to subjective probability and Bayesian inference is given, with comments on typical misconceptions which tend to discredit it and comparisons to other approaches.Comment: 15 pages, LateX, 1 eps figure, corrected some typos. Invited paper for the American Journal of Physics. This paper and related work are also available at http://www-zeus.roma1.infn.it/~agostini