Chapter 12: Robotics (version 2.0)

Question 1

How is a robot defined?

Answer 1

A mechanical creature that can function autonomously

Question 2

What is a major inspiration of robotics deign?

Answer 2

The biological world (humans, animals)

Question 3

What are five distinct ways in which we can study human actions?

Answer 3

1. Neurobiological (brain activity)
2. Behavioral
3. Cognitive (information processing)
4. Psychoanalytical (unconscious processes influence actions)
5. Phenomenological (humanistic, subjective perception)

Question 4

What is ethology?

Answer 4

The study of animal behavior (important in understanding and designing intelligent agents along with cognitive psychology)

Question 5

What is the innate reasoning mechanism (IRM)?

Answer 5

It is similar to a reflex but operates in an open world whereas a reflex operates in a predetermined environment

Question 6

What are four characteristics of an autonomous robot?

Answer 6

1. Functions without a human operator
2. Adapts to a changing environment
3. Functions regardless of minor damage
4. Changes its world circumstances

Question 7

What is a major inspiration on robotics design?

Answer 7

The biological world (humans, animals)

Question 8

What do we mean by “open world”?

Answer 8

A world in which the actions of the agents alter the world and force those agents to establish a revised view of the world

Question 9

What do we mean by “closed world”?

Answer 9

A viewpoint that assumes that the world holds no surprises; there is everything that a robot needs to know about the world

Question 10

What is considered Behavior?

Answer 10

A mapping (translation) of sensory inputs onto a pattern of motor actions whose purpose is to complete a task

Question 11

What are N-grams?

Answer 11

Representations of sequences of “elementary” actions that are stored in our brain

Question 12

How long do Reflexive Responses last?

Answer 12

As long as the stimulus that produces them. However, there are fixed-action patterns of response in which response persists longer than the stimulus

Question 13

What are Reactive Responses?

Answer 13

Learned behaviors consolidated such that they are executed without conscious thought

Question 14

What is ethology?

Answer 14

The study of animal behavior

Question 15

What are four ways in which animals acquire behavior according to Lorenz and Tinbergen?

Answer 15

1. Innate
2. Innate, sequential
3. Innate with memory
4. Learned

Question 16

What is the innate reasoning mechanism (INR)?

Answer 16

It is similar to a reflex but operates in an open world whereas a reflex operates in a predetermined environment

Question 17

What are the three kinds of animal behavior IRMs can explain?

Answer 17

1. Equilibrium (behaviors balance each other out)
2. Dominance (IRM prevails)
3. Cancellation (situation that initiates a third behavior)

Question 18

What are Affordances?

Answer 18

Perceivable potentialities within the environment that serve as triggers of an action

Question 19

What are the two perceptual systems in animals according to Neisser?

Answer 19

1. Direct perception system (associated with primitive regions of the brain)
2. Recognition system (associated with high-order parts of the brain)

Question 20

What is action-oriented perception?

Answer 20

A perception mechanism that will filter stimuli and consider only what is relevant to the behavior

Question 21

What is a paradigm?

Answer 21

An approach for developing theories and for analyzing a class of problems including analytical tools and techniques

Question 22

What are the three primitive functions that prominent robotic paradigms include?

Answer 22

SENSE, PLAN, ACT

Question 23

What is the sensing primitive?

Answer 23

Function that takes information from a robot’s sensors and sends useful output

Question 24

What is the planning primitive?

Answer 24

Function that takes information from a sensor and generates a set of tasks for the robot to execute

Question 25

What is the acting primitive?

Answer 25

Function that produces commands to the motivating or other actuators of the robot

Question 26

What is a fourth robot primitive that might be added in the near future?

Answer 26

A LEARN primitive

Question 27

What are the three categories of robot paradigms?

Answer 27

1. Hierarchical Paradigm (traditional sense, plan, act)
2. Reactive Paradigm (does not include planning)
3. Hybrid Paradigm (reactive planning)

Question 28

What are the main characteristics of the Reactive Paradigm?

Answer 28

1. Speed (between SENSE and ACT)
2. Simplicity (absence of “memory”)
3. “Small world”
4. Simple programming
5. Built on choice (what happens when multiple behaviors are simultaneously active)

Question 29

What is a skill set?

Answer 29

A combination of reflexive behavior and innate or learned behavior

Question 30

What are the five functional components that may be found in Hybrid architectures?

Answer 30

1. Mission planner (translates human commands into robotic terms)
2. Cartographer (creates maps and maintains spatial information)
3. Sequencer Agent (generates set of behaviors)
4. Resource Manager
5. Performance Monitor and Problem Solver