Active Categorical Perception of Object Shapes in a Simulated Anthropomorphic Robotic Arm

Active perception refers to a theoretical approach to the study of perception grounded on the idea that perceiving is a way of acting, rather than a process whereby the brain constructs an internal representation of the world. The operational principles of active perception can be effectively tested by building robot-based models in which the relationship between perceptual categories and the body-environment interactions can be experimentally manipulated. In this paper, we study the mechanisms of tactile perception in a task in which a neurocontrolled anthropomorphic robotic arm, equipped with coarsegrained tactile sensors, is required to perceptually categorise spherical and ellipsoid objects. We show that best individuals, synthesised by artificial evolution techniques, develop a close to optimal ability to discriminate the shape of the objects as well as an excellent ability to generalise their skill in new circumstances. The results prove that the agent solve the categorisation ta...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: TEC
• Authors: Elio Tuci, Gianluca Massera, Stefano Nolfi
• Keywords: Active Perception, Anthropomorphic Robotic Arm, Artificial Evolution Techniques, TEC 2010