Jul 14, 2007
RunBot
Researchers from Germany and the United Kingdom have developed a bipedal walking robot, capable of self-stabilizing via a highly-developed learning process.
From the study abstract:
In this study we present a planar biped robot, which uses the design principle of nested loops to combine the self-stabilizing properties of its biomechanical design with several levels of neuronal control. Specifically, we show how to adapt control by including online learning mechanisms based on simulated synaptic plasticity. This robot can walk with a high speed (>3.0 leg length/s), self-adapting to minor disturbances, and reacting in a robust way to abruptly induced gait changes. At the same time, it can learn walking on different terrains, requiring only few learning experiences. This study shows that the tight coupling of physical with neuronal control, guided by sensory feedback from the walking pattern itself, combined with synaptic learning may be a way forward to better understand and solve coordination problems in other complex motor tasks.
The paper: Adaptive, Fast Walking in a Biped Robot under Neuronal Control and Learning (Manoonpong P, Geng T, Kulvicius T, Porr B, Worgotter F (2007) Adaptive, Fast Walking in a Biped Robot under Neuronal Control and Learning. PLoS Comput Biol 3(7): e134)
16:18 Posted in AI & robotics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: artificial intelligence, robotics
The EyesWeb Project
From InfoMus Lab: Laboratorio di Informatica Musicale’s, Genova, Italy
The EyesWeb Project - The EyesWeb research project aims at exploring and developing models of interaction by extending music language toward gesture and visual languages, with a particular focus on the understanding of affect and expressive content in gesture. For example, in EyesWeb we aim at developing methods able to distinguish the different expressive content from two instances of the same movement pattern, e.g., two performances of the same dance fragment. Our research addresses the fields of KANSEI Information Processing and of analysis and synthesis of expressiveness in movement. More.
The EyesWeb open platform (free download) has been originally conceived for supporting research on multimodal expressive interfaces and multimedia interactive systems. EyesWeb has also been widely employed for designing and developing real-time dance, music, and multimedia applications. It supports the user in experimenting computational models of non-verbal expressive communication and in mapping gestures from different modalities (e.g., human full-body movement, music) onto multimedia output (e.g., sound, music, visual media). It allows fast development and experiment cycles of interactive performance set-ups by including a visual programming language allowing mapping, at different levels, of movement and audio into integrated music, visual, and mobile scenery.
EyesWeb has been designed with a special focus on the analysis and processing of expressive gesture in movement, midi, audio, and music signals. It was the basic platform of the EU-IST Project MEGA and it has been employed in many artistic performances and interactive installations. More.
16:15 Posted in Future interfaces | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: cybermusic
New NIH Neurotech Funding Opportunities
NIH announced new Federal funding to advance understanding of the nervous system, behavior or the diagnosis and treatment of nervous system diseases and disorders, through support of research, development, and enhancement of a wide range of neurotechnologies.
16:11 Posted in Neurotechnology & neuroinformatics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: neurotechnology, neuroinformatics