BEHAVIOR BASED ROBOTICS

IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES

by Don McFarland

• Classical Design

• Brooks’ Ideas

• Two BBR Examples

• Summary

Design by Introspection

• I perceived a painful change

• I adjusted my internal model

• I planned my response

• I am acting out the plan

Classic Robot Architecture

FROM SENSORS TO ACTUATORS

• Stanford/Nilsson ‘69

• goal-directed agent

(STRIPS planning)• simple environment• slow as molasses

SHAKEY

The Classic Robot

A Different Approach

• 1984: Three groups: MIT(Agre,Chapman), SRI(Rosenschien, Kaelbling), MIT(Brooks)

• Tightly couple sensing and action

• Avoid internal (symbolic) world model

• Organize systems by behaviors

• A lot more …

ENVIRONMENTS

Reflex

Utility-Based

Goal-Based

Reflex + State

Simple Complex

Classical

BBR

Behavior-Based Robotics (BBR)

• “The world is its own model”

• Situated-ness: senses its surroundings

• Embodied: physically in the world

• Evolve systems from simple behaviors up to complex behaviors

Central Brooksian Ideas

An student-avoiding, pizza-seeking TA

confusionconf

usio

n

confusion

confusion

stomachnose

nose

nose

feet nose

PIZZA

CONFUSEDSTUDENT

Student avoider …

confusion avoid feet

… and pizza-seeker

stomach

feednose

confusion avoid feetS

FEED “SUBSUMES”

AVOID

“SUBSUMPTION ARCHITECTURE”

A Bug Example: Genghis

• Standup• Simple walk• Force balancing• Leg lifting• Whiskers• Pitch stabilization• Prowling• Steered prowling

Brooks’ Recent Work

COGKISMET

Cynthia Breazeal

Summary

• Brooks 1984 shifted from goal-directed agents in artificial/simulated worlds to reflex agents in dynamic, complex worlds.

• Idea 1: situated, embodied robots using the world as its own model.

• Idea 2: pattern after biological evolution (and design from simplest behaviors, overlaid by more complicated)

QUESTIONS?