Page 84 - Introduction to AI Robotics

Biological Foundations of the

3 Reactive Paradigm

Chapter Objectives:
Describe the three levels in a computational theory.

Explain in one or two sentences each of the following terms: reflexes, taxes,
fixed-action patterns, schema, affordance.

Be able to write pseudo-code of an animal’s behaviors in terms of innate
releasing mechanisms, identifying the releasers for the behavior.
Given a description of an animal’s sensing abilities, its task, and environ-
ment, identify an affordance for each behavior.

Given a description of an animal’s sensing abilities, its task, and environ-
ment, define a set of behaviors using schema theory to accomplish the
task.

3.1 Overview

Progress in robotics in the 1970’s was slow. The most influential robot was
the Stanford Cart developed by Hans Moravec, which used stereo vision to
see and avoid obstacles protruding from the ground. In the late 1970’s and
early 80’s, Michael Arbib began to investigate models of animal intelligence
from the biological and cognitive sciences in the hopes of gaining insight into
what was missing in robotics. While many roboticists had been fascinated
by animals, and many, including Moravec, had used some artifact of animal
behavior for motivation, no one approached the field with the seriousness
and dedication of Arbib.