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On the Influence of Sensor Morphology on Vergence

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From Animals to Animats 11 (SAB 2010)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6226))

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Abstract

In the field of developmental robotics, a lot of attention has been devoted to algorithms that allow agents to build up skills through sensorimotor interaction. Such interaction is largely affected by the agent’s morphology, that is, its shape, limb articulation, as well as the position and density of sensors on its body surface. Despite its importance, the impact of morphology on behavior has not been systematically addressed. In this paper, we take inspiration from the human vision system, and demonstrate using a binocular active vision platform why sensor morphology in combination with other properties of the body, are essential conditions to achieve coordinated visual behavior (here, vergence). Specifically, to evaluate the effect of sensor morphology on behavior, we present an information-theoretic analysis quantifying the statistical regularities induced through sensorimotor interaction. Our results show that only for an adequate sensor morphology, vergence increases the amount of information structure in the sensorimotor loop.

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Martinez, H., Sumioka, H., Lungarella, M., Pfeifer, R. (2010). On the Influence of Sensor Morphology on Vergence. In: Doncieux, S., Girard, B., Guillot, A., Hallam, J., Meyer, JA., Mouret, JB. (eds) From Animals to Animats 11. SAB 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6226. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15193-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15193-4_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-15192-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-15193-4

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