Re: Machina Speculatrix and Emergent Behaviour

"Gordon McComb" <NOSPAMgmccomb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:43AAD81D.1489@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<snipped the good stuff>

I have to agree. My favorite robot architectures always include a
mixture of "reflexes" and programmed micros. This method exhibits the
strong points of each type of construction. For example, imagine a circuit
that consists of little more than a pendulum or microswitch that can detect
the robot being upside down. Add to that a pair of solenoids or other
simple devices to set the robot upright, and send just enough data to the
brain to let it know that it had in fact been flipped over and when it is
back on its feet again, so to speak.
Now, the flipped-over sensor constitutes a type of reflex, and the brain
only has to take into account the fact that the robot has been turned over,
and perhaps righted again. You barely have to program that, and the
hardware will take care of itself. You can also add other simple reflex
circuits that will report to the brain what has happened and do something
about it, and the brain simply does the bookkeeping then. You add a couple
of lines of code or a loop or two for handling it, and it turns out that you
can very easily compartmentalize the code for that with little pain.
I built a fire extinguisher bot a few years ago for the Trinity College
fire fighter competition that used a similar set of reflexes. One used a
pair of fire sensor eyes aimed together at a point a few inches in front of
the robot. When one eye saw the fire, it was used to navigate toward it.
When both eyes saw the fire, due to their angle and spacing, there was only
one place it could be- dead ahead at a fixed distance (it was a candle). In
that unique case, the robot reflexively sprayed it with water. The brain
only used the sensory data to steer by, but the eye/water squirter
combination would spray the instant it had the flame in sight.
The brain could then do the "paperwork"- hey, we saw fire, headed for it
and since both eyes then got it, we successfully located it through
navigation. Then, the reflex kicked in and told us so, and now there is no
fire- we must have put it out.
So with a handful of simple sensors and reflexes, and a very minimum of
complex code, you get something that acts like an organism and exhibits
something similar to layered brain architecture. I strongly recommend that
both hobbyist and professional try this approach and see how well even
thorny problems can respond to it.

Cheers!

Sir Charles W. Shults III, K. B. B.
Xenotech Research
321-206-1840


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