Using rat navigation models to learn orientation from visual input on a mobile robot

Rodents possess extraordinary navigation abilities that are far in excess of what current state-of-the-art robot agents are capable of. This paper describes research that is part of a larger project aimed at developing a robot navigation system that is capable of robust autonomous navigation in real-time by using biologically plausible constructs inspired from the many neurological and behavioral studies conducted on freely navigating rats. Specifically, this paper discusses the implementation of a ratinspired system that allows a robot to learn and recognize its allocentric orientation based on what it perceives. The system described here is a pragmatic, minimalist implementation of recently proposed models of the rat head direction system. The rat head direction system are collectively, the neural assemblies that neuroscientific studies suggest are responsible for encoding the orientation of the rat's head in a global reference frame. This paper describes an implementation of t...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2001
• Where: AGENTS
• Authors: Brett Browning
• Keywords: AGENTS 2001, Autonomous Robots, Rat Head Direction, Robot, Security Privacy