Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Primate-Inspired Autonomous Navigation Algorithm Using the Cognitive Mechanism of Mental Rotation

  • Conference paper
Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots (SIMPAR 2014)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 8810))

Abstract

Though significant progress on autonomous navigation has been made, the natural world offers interesting examples of navigational techniques that are worth exploring and understanding. The cognitive mechanism of mental rotation has been revealed in numerous cognitive and neuroscientific experiments; its reason for existence and evolution, however, has yet to be thoroughly understood. It is speculated that this mechanism may assist primates in navigation. This paper explores how mental rotation can be used in navigation by developing an autonomous robotic navigation algorithm that draws inspiration from the mechanism. This algorithm was tested on a robot tasked with navigating to a specified goal location contained within the agent’s initial view. The testing suggests that mental rotation can be used as an asset in navigation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Thrun, S., Burgard, W., Fox, D.: Probabilistic Robotics. MIT Press, Cambridge (2005)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Arkin, R.C.: Behavior-based Robotics. MIT Press, Cambridge (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Menzel Jr., E.W., Menzel, C.R.: Do Primates Plan Routes? Simple Detour Problems Reconsidered (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Menzel, C.R., Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S., Menzel Jr., E.W.: Bonobo (Pan paniscus) spatial memory and communication in a 20-hectare forest. International Journal of Primatology 23(3), 601–619 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lourenco, S.F., Huttenlocher, J.: Using geometry to specify location: implications for spatial coding in children and nonhuman animals. Psycholog. Res. 71(3), 252–264 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Aretz, A.J., Wickens, C.D.: The mental rotation of map displays. Human Performance 5(4), 303–328 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bläsing, B., de Castro Campos, M., Schack, T., Brugger, P.: Mental rotation of primate hands: human-likeness and thumb saliency. Experiment. Brain Res. 221(1), 93–105 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Khooshabeh, P., Hegarty, M.: Representations of Shape during Mental Rotation. In: AAAI Spring Symposium: Cognitive Shape Processing (March 2010)

    Google Scholar 

  9. MacKenzie, D., Arkin, R.C., Cameron, J.: Multiagent Mission Specification and Execution. Autonomous Robotics 4(1), 29–57 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kosslyn, S.M., Thompson, W.L., Ganis, G.: The case for mental imagery. Oxford University Press (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hutcheson, A.T., Wedell, D.H.: From maps to navigation: The role of cues in finding locations in a virtual environment. Memory & Cognition 40(6), 946–957 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hegarty, M., Waller, D.: A dissociation between mental rotation and perspective-taking spatial abilities. Intelligence 32(2), 175–191 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Arkin, R.C.: The Role of Mental Rotations in Primate-inspired Robot Navigation. Cognitive Processing 13(1), 83–87 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Stein, L.A.: Imagination and situated cognition. Journal of Experimental &Theoretical Artificial Intelligence 6(4), 393–407 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Arkin, R.C., Dellaert, F., Devassy, J.: Primate-inspired Mental Rotations: Implications for Robot Control. In: Proc. IEEE International Conf. on Robotic sand Biomimetics (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Arkin, R.C., Dellaert, F., Srinivasan, N., Kerwin, R.: Primate-inspired vehicle navigation using optic flow and mental rotations. In: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, p. 87560M. International Society for Optics and Photonics (May 2013)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Erdogan, C., Paluri, M., & Dellaert, F.: Planar segmentation of RGBD images using fast linear fitting and markov chain monte carlo. In: 2012 Ninth Conference on Computer and Robot Vision (CRV), pp. 32–39. IEEE (May 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Srinivasan, N., Dellaert, F.: A Rao-Blackwellized MCMC Algorithm for Recovering Piecewise Planar 3D model from Multiple View RGBD Images. To Appear IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (October 2014)

    Google Scholar 

  19. PCL: Normal Estimation Using Integral Images, http://pointclouds.org/documentation/tutorials/normal_estimatio_using_integral_images.php

  20. Arkin, R.C.: Towards cosmopolitan robots: Intelligent navigation in extended man-made environments. Doctoral Dissertation. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, pp. 178–216 (1987)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Michael J. Pettinati & Ronald C. Arkin

Authors
  1. Michael J. Pettinati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ronald C. Arkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi di Bergamo, Viale Marconi 5, 24044, Dalmine, Italy

    Davide Brugali

  2. Faculty EE-Math-CS, CTIT Institute, Robotics and Mechatronics Group, University of Twente, Room Carre 3437, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Jan F. Broenink

  3. Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Stanford University, 94305-9010, Stanford, CA, USA

    Torsten Kroeger

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Science Centre - Mathphysic, Level 2, University of Auckland, Room 303-249, 38 Princess Street, 1010, Auckland, New Zealand

    Bruce A. MacDonald

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Pettinati, M.J., Arkin, R.C. (2014). A Primate-Inspired Autonomous Navigation Algorithm Using the Cognitive Mechanism of Mental Rotation. In: Brugali, D., Broenink, J.F., Kroeger, T., MacDonald, B.A. (eds) Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots. SIMPAR 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8810. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11900-7_33

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11900-7_33

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-11899-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-11900-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation