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PresentedatIEA/AIE'94
,1994,1995,1996,GeorgeE.Mobus&PaulS.Fisher.AllRightsReserved

MAVRIC'sBrain
GeorgeE.Mobus
ComputerScieneDepartment,WesternWashingtonUniversityBellingham,WA98226
and

PaulS.Fisher
DepartmentofComputerScience,UniversityofNorthTexasDenton,TX76205
emailcontact:mobus@cs.wwu.edu

Abstract
MAVRIC(MobileAutonomousVehicleforResearchinIntelligentControl)isanembodied[4]
Braitenbergvehicle[3]thatissituated[4]inanonstationary,dynamicenvironment.Itiscontrolledfully
byanartificialbraincomprisedsolelyofsimulatedAdaptrodebasedneurons[10].Itlearnstoassociate
variousenvironmentalcueswithmissionsupportiveormissionthreateningfactors.Itcanthenusethose
cuestoseekoravoidobjects.MAVRIChasroughlytheintelligenceofamoronicsnail,butithasalready
yieldedsomeinsightsintohowgreaterintelligencemightbebuiltontopoflesserintelligentsystems,
thusrecapitulatingtheevolutionofintelligenceinnature.

BACKGROUND
Theauthorshavebeenengagedinaratherdifferentapproachtotheinvestigationofintelligencein
machines.Wetakeourcuefromthewayinwhichbiologicalintelligenceseemstohaveariseninnature,
throughevolution,fromsimpleadaptivecreaturestoreasoningbeings.Weareconvincedthatthebasis
foremergentintelligentbehaviormustbeexplored,unashamedlyinclassicalreductionistform,atthe
microlevel.Thecoreofourresearcheffortiscenteredaroundacomputationaladaptiveelementwhich
hasalreadyyieldedresultsthatgiveusconfidenceinthisprogram.Basedonageneralizationofabasic
biologicalmodelofadaptiveresponse,theelementwhichwecalltheAdaptrode,computesamulti
resolutiontemporalresponsesignaltoasporadicandepisodicinput[10],[11].
Inassociationwithotheradaptrodesandinthecontextofaneuronlikeprocessingelement,wehave
previouslyshownthatmultitimescaleassociativelearningisachieved[10],[11].Furthermore,the
adaptrodemechanismcaneasilyenforcecertaintechnicalconstraintsonthetemporalorderofprocessed
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signalssuchthatnaturalcausalrelationsareencodedinthelearnedassociations[10].
Theresearchenvironmentthatwehavechosenisautonomousrobotics.MAVRIC(MobileAutonomous
VehicleforResearchinIntelligentControl)isanembodied[4]Braitenbergvehicle[3]thatissituated[4]
inanonstationary,dynamicenvironmentsuchasanordinaryroomwithmovableandmovingobjects.
MAVRICisoutfittedwithavarietyofsensorsthatallowittosensethestateoftheenvironment(see
Figure1.)Thesesensorsaresimplelight,touch,soundand(simulated)smell[10].IntheFigure,the
cephalic(head)end(leftsideoffigure)isarrayedwithavarietyofsensors,allofwhichproduce
proportionalsignals.AnonboardcomputerpollstheA/Dboard,controlsthesteppermotorsand
providescommunicationswiththemaincomputingplatform,a486PC.Thoughabatterycanbeusedto
powerMAVRIC(asshown),forlongruns,apowercableistetheredalongwiththeRS422cable.A
programcalled``BRAIN''runsonthePCtosimulatetheneuronsofMAVRIC'sbrain.

Fig.1MAVRIC(Mobile,AutonomousVehicleforResearchinIntelligentControl)isaclassical
Braitenbergvehicle.
MAVRICcanbecharacterizedasaretarded(moronic,infact)snailroughlyaType11vehiclein
Braitenberg'smenagerie[3].TheobjectiveofourresearchistogiveMAVRICsufficientintelligencethat
itcanmaneuverandfindwhatwecallmissionsupportiveevents(andavoidmissionthreateningevents)
initsenvironmentevenwithsuchsimplesensors.Theseeventsareanalogoustosurvivaleventsinthe
environmentofalivingsnailtheavailabilityoffoodandmatesorthethreatsofpredatorsorobnoxious
chemicals.Wecalltheseeventsmissionrelevanttoemphasizethegeneralizationofmotivationto
hypotheticalrobotmissionssuchasfindingoresamplesonMarsortoxicwastesinaswamp.
MAVRIC'sbrainisbasedentirelyonadaptrodeneurons.Noothercomputationisemployedthanthe
simulationoftheneurons[10].MAVRICcannowroamaboutandlearntoassociatevarious
environmentalcuessuchasthepresenceofalightcoupledwithsoundingofaspecifictone,withthe
occurrenceofmissionrelevantevents,suchastheoccurrenceofasoughtobject,wherethosecueshave
causalrelationstotheevents.Thatis,thecueevent(s)arelinkedtothemissionrelevanteventbysome
causalmechanism.Thecueisacuepreciselybecauseofthisrelationship.MAVRIC'sjobistolearn
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thoseassociationssoastomaximizeitschancesoffindingandexploitingtheevents[10].Thechallenge
presentedtotheadaptrodelearningmechanismistoencodeassociationswhichare,themselves,time
varyingornonstationarywithoutdestroyingpreviouslylearnedassociations"destructiveinterference"
[14].
Inthispaperwereportonthebasicarchitectureofthisartificialbrainanddiscusssomeoftheearly
findings/insightswehavemadealongwithsomecommentsonfuturedirectionswehopetotake.Amajor
resultoftheworkwithMAVRIChasbeenthediscoveryofanewsearchmethodthatemploysquasi
chaoticoscillationtogeneratenovelsearchpathswhileconstrainingthesearchenvelop.Theresulting
searchimprovestherobot'schancesoffindingamissioncriticalobjectwhenthegeneraldirectionis
knownbuttheexactlocationisnot.Thesearchisreminiscentofforagingsearchbyanimals.

ARCHITECTUREOFABRAIN
MAVRIC'sbrainconsistsofanumberofmodulescomprisedofadaptrodeneurons.Eachmodule
performssomespecificfunction.Modulesareinterconnectedsothattheircombinedfunctionsresultin
robotbehaviors.Whichbehaviorisactiveatanygiventimedependsonthelevelsofactivationofallof
themodulesconcurrently.Conflictsareresolvedthroughcrossinhibition.Thisissomewhatlikethe
behaviorbased,subsumptionarchitectureadvocatedbyBrooks[4].Wheninitiallydesignedand
constructedthesemodulesweretestedinaninteractivesimulationenvironmentwhichusedthesame
neuronsimulationenginethatisusedtodrivetherobotbrain.Aftertestingthemodulestheywereadded
tothebasicbrainnetworkandtested``insitu.''Figure2showsablockdiagramofthevariousmodulesin
thebrain.

Fig.2TheMAVRICbrainiscomprisedoffunctionalmodulenetworks.Sensoryinformation
entersmodulesontheleftsideofthefigure.Thecoreofthebrainisinvolvedwithlearning
associationsbetweennonmeaningfulandmeaningfulstimuli.Motoroutputcontrolis
accomplishedbymodulesontherightsideofthefigure.Therectanglesareinterfaceswiththe
computingenvironment.
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MOTORCONTROLOUTPUT
Therobot'sbasicactionsincludedrivingforward(atvariablespeeds),turningrightorleft,backingup
andstopping.Throughsequencesoftheseactionsithasarepertoireofbehaviorssuchassearching,
followingagradient(hominginonanobjectorseeking),avoidinganobjectandfleeing.MAVRICuses
twoindependentlydrivensteppermotorsforpropulsion.AsintheclassicalBraitenbergvehicle,witha
frontendcastor,thisgivesdirectionandspeedcontrol.
Wehavedevelopedaninterestingoscillatornetwork(Figure3)whichgeneratesapairofsignalsoneof
whichisfedtotherightmotorandtheothertotheleftmotor.Thecombinedeffectofthesesignals
producesastochasticsinusoidalweaveintheforwardmotionoftherobotasortofdrunkenwalk.
Attractorreconstructionanalysisofthenetvalueofthesignals(leftoutputrightoutput)showsastrange
attractorbasinindicatingthatthesignalisatleastquasichaotic.
Whennotbeingstimulatedbyanymeaningfulsensoryinputs,MAVRICwillweaveinaconstrained,yet
novel,sinusoidalpathasitsearchesitsenvironment.ThewayinwhichMAVRICappearstobe
followinganorderedbutstochasticsearch,reminiscentofabloodhoundweavingbackandforthtryingto
pickupascent,hasledustoinvestigatethetheoryofforagingsearchasanalternativetostochastic
methods.Foragingsearchinanimalsisameansbywhichtheanimalcanfinddynamicallyandsparsely
distributedresourcesinahugespace[15],[13],[6].Onecomponentofsuchasearchisthatlackingany
cluesastothewhereaboutsofapatchofresource,theanimalconductsastochastic,butnotrandomwalk,
pathselectionprocedure[note1]whichensuresthatitwillexploreawidercorridorthanitwouldhaveby
movinginastrictlystraightline.Thiscomponentisimportantinadynamicenvironmentwhereresources
areeithermovingorcomingintoandoutofexistence(e.g.,ripeningoffruitsinseason)inasporadicand
episodicfashion[9].Anothercomponentofforagingsearchlearningcueswillbediscussedbelow.
Theoscillatorcircuitwasemployedbecauseitbehavessimilarlytocentralpatterngenerator(CPG)
circuitsusedbymanyanimalsformotorcontrol.Themajoradvantageofthesecircuitsisthatinput
signalstodifferentpointsinthecircuitcanmodulateorshapetheoutputtoachievechangesindirection
and/orspeed.A``GoStraight''signaldampstheoscillationamplitudesothatMAVRICmovesstraight
ahead.A``GoRight''signaldampstherightoutputsignalsothattheleftmotorrunsfasterthantheright
motor,thusturningtherobottotheright.Thisfeatureisexploitedtomaketherobothomeinoncuesthat
itdetectsinthecourseofsearching.Oncearecognizedsignalisdetected,MAVRICceasesitsquasi
chaoticweaveandmovesinarelativelystraightlinetowardthesignalsourceusingoneoftwomethods
tobediscussedbelow.

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Fig.3TheCentralPatternGenerator(CPG)motorcontrolcircuitiscomprisedoffour"core"
neuronsthatgenerateaquasichaoticsinusoidalsignal(leftmotorminusrightmotor).Additional
neuronsprovidesignaldistributionforexternallyappliedcontrolsignalsthatareusedtomodulate
andshapetheoutputsignals.Pointedarrowsindicatesignalsfrom/totheexternalenvironment.
Flatterminalsindicateexcitatoryconnectionswhilecircularterminalsindicateinhibitoryones.

SENSORYINPUT
TherearefourbasicsensorymodalitiesemployedinMAVRIC.Themostprimitivesensorymodalityin
natureisolfactionorchemicalsensing[8].Animalshavetheabilitytosenseandfollowchemical
gradients(eithertowardanattractantorawayfromarepellant).Thisinvolvescomputingatemporal
differenceintheconcentrationofthechemicalandgeneratinga"GOSTRAIGHT"signalifthe
differenceislargeandrelaxingtoastochasticweaveifthedifferenceissmall[8].InMAVRIC,this
sensewasoriginallysimulatedusingheatsensors.A"sniffer"neuralcircuitprovidesatemporal
differenceinthetemperatureusingatwocelloscillator(unlikethefourcellmotorcircuit,thisoscillator
followsalimitcycle).WhenMAVRICentersadetectablegradient,itcanorientitselfinthedirectionof
thesource(eithertowardorawaydependingonthesourcebeinganattractantorrepellant).
Heat,itturnedout,wasnotagoodchoiceduetoproblemswithsensitivityandconvectioncurrents.
Subsequently,theheatsensorswerereplacedbyamicrophoneandnarrowbandpassfilter(see
descriptionofauditorysystembelow).Agradientissimulatedbycontrollingthevolumeofatone
emittedbyaspeakerlocatedintheenvironment.IfMAVRICgetsclosertothespeaker(theobjectbeing
sought)thevolumeisincreasedbyanamountthatcanbedetectedbytheonboardamplifieranda
differencecomputedbythesniffercircuit.Similarly,ifMAVRICmovesawayfromthespeaker,the
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volumeisdecreased.Unfortunately,thisalternative,whileworkingwell,hasprovedsomewhat
problematicinitsownright.Duetothepoorsensitivityoftheamplifyingcircuitsonboard(areflection
ofbudgetaryconstraints),thevolumeneededtorepresentMAVRICreachingtheobjectwasdistracting
tothehumanobservers.Wehadselectedapitchwellwithinhumanhearing.Perhapsapitchabove20k
Hz.wouldhavebeenmoreappropriate.
Fourlightsensors,arrayedatdivergentanglesacrossthe"cephalic"endconstitutethevisionsystemin
classicBraitenbergfashion.Lightisusedasoneoftheconditionablestimulussources[10].MAVRIC
cansensethedirectiontowardabrighterthanbackgroundlightsourcethroughaspatialdifference
computation.Asaconditionablestimulus,lightneitherattractsnorrepelsMAVRICunlessithaslearned
toassociatelightwithseekingoravoidancereaction(seenextsection).
TwosemidirectionalmicrophonesandasetofnarrowbandpassfiltersprovideMAVRICwithsome
primitiveauditorysense.Atpresent,onlytwotonesareused.Aswithlight,thesetonesareconditionable
withrespecttomeaningfulstimuli.Tone'A'mightbeusedtosignalthepresenceofamissioncritical
objectwhiletone'B'couldsignalathreat.MAVRIC'sabilitytosensedirectionwiththesetonesis
limited,sotheyareusedassecondaryassociationcues.Whendetected,MAVRICstillneedstosearch
fortheobjectusinglightandsmell.
ThelastsensethatMAVRICusesistouch.Itisoutfittedwithtwocompliant"feelers"thatoriginatenear
thecenterlineofthecephalusandwrapoutwardandaroundtothesides.Thesefeelersgeneratea
proportionalsignalwhenMAVRICtouchessomething.ThesignalisquicklystrongifMAVRICruns
intoanobjectheadon(atanadmittedlysnail'space!),andisslowandweakifitbrushespastanobject.
ThissenseallowsMAVRICtodecidetobackuporturntangentiallydependingonthecircumstances.
Allofthesensoryinputsareproportional.Signalsarenotconditionedorlinearized.Theyaredigitizedby
an8bitA/Dconverterandsampledattherateof10timespersecond.

ASSOCIATIONANDLEARNING
TheobjectiveofMAVRICistoshowhowarobotcanlearnbyongoingexperiencetosurviveand
accomplishagivenmissioninanonstationary,dynamicenvironment.Todothis,MAVRICmustlearn,
acrossmultipletimescales,thecausalassociationsbetweeneventsthatwillimpactitssurvival/mission
andthosesensorycueswhichprecedethemeaningfulevent,andhence,predictitsoccurrence[10].The
associatornetworkinMAVRICisessentiallythesameastheBAN(BasicAssociatorNetwork)reported
in[10]andshownhereinFigure4}.Adaptrodeneuronsusingalocalinteractionruleofassociative
learning[2]encodetheshortterm,intermediatetermandlongtermassociationsbetweenconditioned
stimuli(CSs,e.g.,lightinthefigure)andeitherpainorpleasureasshowninthefigure.Additionally,
MAVRICcanassociateaCSwitheitheranattractantorarepellantodor.Secondaryconditioning
phenomenahavealsobeenachievedwheremorethanonemodality(inthiscaselightandsound)are
activeinsequence.
Theassociatornetworkdecideswhetherastimulusisbenign,desirableorharmfulbasedonpast
experience.ItthenissuestheappropriatesignalstoeithertheSEEKortheAVOIDcontrollerifthe
decisionisdesirableorharmful,respectively.Ifthestimulusisbenign(notassociated)thenneither
SEEKorAVOIDisstimulatedandtherobotsimplywandersinits"drunkenwalk"weavesearchingfor
somethingofinterest.
Thepainandpleasureinputs(aswellasthesatiationinputofFigure2)arecurrentlyimplementedin
softwareunderthecontroloftheexperimenterwhomustdecidewhethersomeparticularexperimental
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eventistobeharmfulorpleasurable.MAVRICdoesnotnowhavepainorsatiationsensorsassuch.

Fig.4Asimplifiedsensorbehaviorassociatornetwork.Rectanglesrepresentsensorinputs.The
objectdetectorinthisfigureisasimplelightdetector.Whenanyofthesensorssignalthepresence
ofalight,thatfactisassociatedeitherwithpainorpleasure.Therobotlearnstoavoidorseekthe
light,respectively.

SOMEEARLYRESULTS
Asofthiswriting,wehavenotbeenabletorunallofthemodulesshowninFigure4simultaneouslyand
getallofthehardwaretoworkatthesametime!ThisreflectstheshoestringbudgetthatMAVRICwas
builton!Additionally,experimentalrunsareexcruciatinglyslow.Wewereluckytogetonecompleterun
inaweek'sworthofwork[note2].Inspiteofmanytechnicaldifficultiestheearlyresultsfromnumerous
runsofworkablecomponentsofthesystemarequiteencouraging.Allofthemoduleshavebeentestedin
somecombination.Forexample,thelightsensingassociationmotoroutputsystemhasbeenrunand
showsreliablythatMAVRICcanlearnlight/painand/orlightpleasureassociations(asreportedin[10]).
Wehaveshownthattherobotcanlearncontraryassociationssolongastheyseperateintime.For
example,MAVRICcanbe"trained"thatlightmeansrewardoveralongspanoftime,sufficientthatthe
associationisencodedinalongtermmemorytrace.AnytimeMAVRICdetectsalightsource,itwill
approachthelight.Subsequently,MAVRICcanbeshownalight,that,whenapproachedresultsinpain.
Thisiscontrarytoitstraining(experience)andresultsinanavoidance(flee)reaction.Ifthelightpain
combinationisrepeatedafewmoretimes,MAVRICwillformashorttermassociationthatcausesitto
avoidthelightspontaneously.The"new"situation,lightpain,isnotrepeatedthereafter,itmayhave
representedatransientsituationintheschemeofthings.MAVRICwill,foratimecontinuetoavoid
light.Thisisfollowedbyaperiodofseemingambivilence,firstitwillmoveawayfromalight,butthen
turntowardit.Eventually,MAVRICwillonceagainapproachthelight,albeitslowly.Theolder
associationreemergesfromthebackgroundoflongtermmemory.Subsequently,ifMAVRICreceivesa
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rewardafterapproachingthelight,itwillstrengthenitslongertermassociationsuchthatitapproaches
thelightwiththesame"verve"thatithadbeforethetransientassociationhadoccurred.Thisnon
destructionofcontrarymemoriesisanimportantfactorinmachinelearning.
Thegradientfollowing"sniffer"circuithasbeenusedtogetMAVRICtodetectandfollowagradient.
Wehaveusedaspecifiedtonetorepresenta"genetically"hardwiredscentofareward(e.g.,food).The
rangeofthisscentiskeptlimitedtoarelativelysmallareaaroundthemissioncriticalobject.MAVRIC
issetlooseatoneendoftheresearchlabandtheobjectisplacedinanarbitrarylocationinthelab.
MAVRICstartsitsquasichaoticforage(paper)asdescribedabove.IfMAVRICis"lucky"itspathwill
windthroughtheareaofthescentgradient,inwhichcaseMAVRICchangesbehaviorandfollowsthe
gradienttowardthesource.Thisformofforagingissuccessfulonlyifthemissioncriticalresourceis
sufficientlydenseindistributionorMAVRICisgivenasufficientlylongperiodinwhichtosearch.
AbettersolutionistoallowMAVRICtolearncueeventsthatarecausallyassociatedwiththe
occurrenceofthemissioncriticalresource,butthathaveaninherentlylargerradiusofdetection,like
lightorsound.Asperthedescriptionoftheassociatorcircuitabove,MAVRICcan,infact,learnto
associatetheoccurrenceofalightsourcewiththatofaresource.Sincethelightcanbedetectedfroma
muchlargerdistance,MAVRICcan,upondetectionofthelight,homeinonthelightsourcewhich
bringsitwithintherangeofthescentgradient.Itthenfollowsthelattertotheobjectitwasseeking.The
experimentallayoutforthisbehaviorisdepictedinFigure5.MAVRICstartsitssearchfroma"HOME"
positioninthelab.Thepointlabelled"Missionevent"marksthepresenceoffood.Theringsradiating
outwardfromthatpointrepresentthe"odor"gradient.Severaltypicalsearchpathsareshownalongwith
theestimatedenvelop("SearchLimits")obtainedfromanumberofsearchiterations.Notethe"drunken
weave"walktakenbytherobotinitssearch.Thisisthepatternthatisgeneratedbythechaoticoscillator
network.Theweavingpatternisnotarandomwalk,yetitdoesproduceanovelpathforeachsuccessive
search.MAVRIC'ssuccessatfindingfoodisdependentontheradiusofthedetectiblegradient,relative
tothesurfaceareasweptoutbythesearchlimits.
Inthefiguretheirregularlyshapedfigure8trajectorywitharrowheadsactuallyrepresentsaprojectionof
aclassicaldeterministicchaoticattractorontotheplane(weusedtwodimensionsoftheLorenz
attractor).Usinguniformlydistributedtimeintervals,theoccurrenceanddurationofmissioneventsis
governedbythistrajectory.Thuswecreateanenvironmentwhichisnonstationarystochasticbutnot
random.Alsoshownisasecondevent/gradientobjectthatischosentobecausallylinkedwiththe
occurrenceofthemissionevent.Thisevent(e.g.,thelightsource)anditsgradientiscalledthe"Cue
event"anditwillbegeneratedaccordingtoanotheruniformlydistributedprobabilityrelativetothe
occurrenceofthemissionevent.The"trick"ofintelligencehereisthatthegradientofthecueeventcan
besensedatamuchgreaterdistancethancanthemissiongradient.Forexamplethepointsourceof
brightlightwillbesensedoveralargerpercentageofMAVRIC'srange.Itthenturnsoutthatifthecue
eventhasthecorrectcausalrelationwiththemissionevent,MAVRICwilllearnthisassociationthrough
experientialencountersandbegintofollowthelightgradientasifitweretheodorgradient.Itwill,
however,preferentiallyfollowtheodorgradientonceitbecomesdetected.InthiswayMAVRIClearns
touseenvironmentalcuestoimproveitsforagingperformance.

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Fig.5TheexperimentallayoutforaMAVRICrun.Amissionresourceiscenteredinthedarker
circulararea,representingthescentgradient.Alight(centerofdashedcircles)gradientisplaced
nearby.Thecreationandpositionoftheresourcearedeterminedbythechaoticdynamics
projectedontothelabfloor(solidlineswitharrowpoints).MAVRIClearnstofindtheresourceby
associatingtheexistenceofthelightwiththescentgradientandfollowingtheformerasifitwere
thelatter.

DISCUSSION,CONCLUSIONSANDFUTUREDIRECTIONS
ConsideringtheshoestringbudgetunderwhichtheMAVRICplatformhasbeendevelopedweare
pleasedwiththeprogressofthisexploratoryworktodate.Severalanimaticfunctionshaveemergedfrom
theapproachtakenhere.Wehavegoodreasontobelievethatpursuingthisapproachwillleadtoabetter
understandingofmachineintelligencemethodsandtopracticalmobile,autonomousrobotscapableof
survivalinunknownenvironments.
AmoronicsnailbrainisseeminglynotinthemainstreamofAIresearch.Asfarasanyonecanascertain
snailsdonotreasonorrecognizefacesorrememberstories.Isitpossiblethatstudyingsucha"primitive"
systemcanleadtoinsightsthatmayhelpustoonedaytobuildmachinesthatdohavecognitiveskills?
Fromthebiologicalsideweareencouraged.Alkon[1]reportsthatsomeofthesamecellular
mechanismsinvolvedinmemorytracesinthebrainsofrealsnailscanbefoundintheneuronsof
mammalianbrains.IntheAI/Roboticscampwearenotaloneinourphilosophicalmotivations[4].
ButwhathavewegarneredfromMAVRICthatleadsustobelievethistrackisworthpursuing?There
areseveralimportantindicationsthatthe"bottomup"developmentofintelligent,autonomousagentsis
realizable.
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ManyAIandconnectionistapproachestopatternrecognitionarebasedonlearningpatternsorpattern
classificationswithlittleornocontext.Thatis,thelearnedpatternshavenomeaningforthesystem,they
arejustfacts.InMAVRIC,onlythemostcrudesenseofapatternislearned,theassociationbetween
tonesandlights,forexample.Butthoseassociationsarealwayslearnedinthecontextofwhatisgoodor
badfortherobot.Thus,everypatternhasmeaningandhenceprovidesmotivationforbehavior.Basic
reactivebehaviors[4],[7]respondtostimulithatareprewiredtorepresentharmfuleventsorsupportive
events.Thisisanalogoustoananimal'sgeneticallygovernedwiringforpainorpleasure.Whattherobot
learnsisthecausalrelationshipbetweeneventswhich,themselvesareinnocuous(nonsemantic)and
thosethatcarrymeaninginthesenseoftheprewiredresponses.Thetemporalorderingofcausal
relationshipsthusallowtherobottorespondtolearnedstimuliasiftheywerethehardwiredsemantic
stimuli.Webelievethisismoretothepointofsymbolgrounding[5].Symbols(patterns)cometobe
recognizedfortheirultimaterelationtomeaningfulstimuliratherthanjusttosensorygrounding.
Coupledwithsecondaryconditioning[10]wehavethepotentialbasisforabstractionofconditionable
sensorystimuli.Itisthispotentialthatgivesusconfidencethatthisapproachwillleadtohigherlevelsof
intelligence.
Thesecondinsightcouldbephrasedas:Morebehaviors=moresensors+moreintelligence.Manyofthe
reactivebehaviors(e.g.,SEEKandAVOID)aremutuallyexclusive,whileothersareprioritybased,
somewhatalongthelinesofthesubsumptivearchitecturesof[4].Justastherearenonsemanticsensory
modalitiesattheinputend,wehavefounditbeneficialtoaddnonreactivebehaviorstotheoutput.Aswe
haveaddedthesebehaviors(e.g.,quasichaoticsearch)alongwithnonsemanticsensors,theassociator
networkandsupportnetworkssuchasthe"ObjectLocation"networkofFigure2havelikewisegrown.
Infactitappearsthatasthenumberofsensormodalities/actionsincreaseslinearlywemayexpecttosee
aquadraticincreaseinthenumberofneuronsneededtoassociativelyprocessthedataandproducea
correspondingnewbehavior.Therereallyisn'tanythingsurprisingherefromtheperspectiveofbiology.
Aswegoupthephylogeneticscaleweseeasubstantialincreaseinthesizeofthecerebrallobes
comparedtothebrainstemasanimalsget"smarter".Whathasbeensomewhatsurprisingisthewayin
whichwecanaddbehaviorssoeasilywithoutdestroyingthebasicreactivefunctionsoftherobot.This
suggeststhatevolutionaryprocessessuchasmoduledoubling,accretionandspecializationmaybe
applicableinthedevelopmentofuseful(readselected)robotsasitseemstobeinnature.
Thereareseverelimitationstotheamountofprocessingthatcanbedonewithourpresentplatform.
Howevertherearestillafewareaswewishtoexplorethatarewithintherealmofthecurrentsystem.
Oneoftheseistheroleofnonassociativelearningsuchashabituationandsensitizationintheshapingof
behavior.Wesuspect,basedonthebiologicalcounterparts,thattheseadaptiveresponseswillplayan
importantpartinincreasingtheintelligenceofMAVRIC.
Inordertoincorporatemoreandmorecomplexsensors,suchasCCDarraysforimagelikevision,we
willclearlyneedtoincreasetheprocessinghorsepowerofourbrainhardware.Ourgoalistomovetoa
parallelprocessingenvironmentsuchastheTransputerwhichseemsideallysuitedtorunningour
simulatedbrain.Recentlyaverylargecommercialresearchlabofoneoftheworld'sleadingcomputer
companiesdonatedaquadputerboardandsoftwaretoourlabtohelpusgettothenextstage.
Morerecentlyoneofus(Mobus)hasbeenexploringasoftwarebasedagentcalledacyberbotthatis
meanttoforageforresourcesinanextended,distributedcomputingenvironmentsuchastheInternet.
Thecyberbotisthesoftwareequivalentofarobot.Itisfullyembodiedintermsofdetectingobjectsinits
environment(e.g.,filenames)andexecutingbehaviors(e.g.,jumpingtothenextnodeinanetwork).Itis
fullysituatedinareal,vast,dynamicandnonstationaryenvironmentthephenomenalgrowthrateof
theInternetisnowlegend.Thecyberbotvehicle,therefore,isnotameresimulationjustbecauseitisin
software.Ratherwesuspectitwillproveeverybitasinterestingasaphysicalrobotforexploring
conceptsinforagingbehaviorandtheanimaticroutetohigherintelligence.
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Footnotes
1. Trywatchingascoutantasitsearchesforfood.Theantwillgenerallyweavebackandforthwhile
movinginageneralforwarddirection.[backtotext]
2. Whilesomemayarguethatthisisagoodcasefordoingpuresimulations,wemaintainthatthe
resultsreportedherewouldnothavebeenpossibleinapurelysimulatedworld.Wecontinueto
agreewithBrooks[4]ontheissueofsituatednessasanecessaryconditionforstudying
intelligenceinagents.[backtotext]

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