Lecture 6 - Morphin

Question 1

What are robots?

Answer 1

The bodies for AI

Question 2

What is Morphological Computation?

Answer 2

A term which captures, conceptually, the observation that biological systems take advantage of their morphology to conduct computations needed for a successful interaction with their environments

Question 3

Three examples of morphological computation (in biology):

Answer 3

1) Insect eye
2) Trouts
3) Complex molecules such as DNA/enzymes

Question 4

In the insect eye, why is morphology utilised?

Answer 4

Due to the Motion Parallax, objects in the peripheral appear to be moving faster, therefore the insect needs less resolution to gain an estimate of relative velocity. In the centre of the eye we need a higher resolution to obtain the estimate

Question 5

In the insect eye, how has the morphology adapted?

Answer 5

The morphology has adapted to give the peripheral of the eye a lower resolution

Question 6

In the insect eye, what effect does the morphology adaption have on the data the fly’s brain receives?

Answer 6

It linearises it - part of the task has been outsourced to the morphology making the calculations simpler

Question 7

What is special about a trout’s body due to its morphology?

Answer 7

It swims even when its fucking dead - creepy if you ask me.

Question 8

What benefit does a trout’s morphology have?

Answer 8

Requiring zero energy to create a swimming motion means it is incredibly efficient.

Question 9

How is morphology utilised in DNA and enzymes?

Answer 9

Complimentary molecule shapes are crucial in Biological functionality. Think of penis and vagina

Question 10

To move a mass to a desired position, we could use a a state feedback controller. What are the disadvantages of this?

Answer 10

• requires a computational controller
• requires energy
• has a delay
• sensors have noise

Question 11

To move a mass to a desired position, what can be used instead of a SFC?

Answer 11

A mass spring damper system

Question 12

What is the advantage of a mass spring damper system over a SFC?

Answer 12

Utilises morphology to:

• remove need for calculation
• remove need for energy (potential energy from displacement stored in spring)
• removes delay (forces act in real time)

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of a mass spring damper over a SFC?

Answer 13

Lacks flexibilty to change desired location of mass. In a SFC controller we can simply change parameters

Question 14

Why is walking an example of morphological compuation?

Answer 14

Walking is a subconscious and mechanical movement

Question 15

What is the main idea behind morphological computation? What is the trade off that must be considered?

Answer 15

1) Outsource computation to the body

2) The trade off is the extent to which we can outsource and how it compromises flexibility

Question 16

What is Morphosis? And give some real non-bio world examples, bitch.

Answer 16

Changing morphology.

• Variable compliant actuators
• Variable damping mechanisms
• Changing morphological assembly

Question 17

What kind of network of _____ can be used to represent a theoretical model of morphological computation.

Answer 17

Mass spring dampers with randomly initialised weights.

The network of mass spring dampers gives an abstract representation of a body - a complex, non-linear, dynamical system

Question 18

What are the properties of a mass spring damper system used as an abstract representation of a body?

Answer 18

1) System maps from a low dimensional input to a high dimensional space.
2) Allows weighted sums and linear regressions

Question 19

How are rigid robots opposite to the abstract network of mass spring damper models?

Answer 19

They are linear

The abstract network is more like nature

Question 20

Give one use of an abstract mass spring damper network model. What are the advantages of using it in this case?

Answer 20

Can be used to learn the limit cycles of non-linear equations.

If we include noise in the modelling we can ensure stability towards the limit cycle. Stability can even be seen beyond the limit of the original noise used to make the model.

Question 21

What are the current morphomagical computation areas of research in Brizzle?

Answer 21

• Soft interface robotic glove
• General learning to exploit morphology
• Spider morphology - using a web as a computer for vibrational signal processing.. bitch boy Will T can pad this out l8r
• Morphological computation in swarms

Question 22

What is embodiment?

Answer 22

An intelligent agent that interacts with the environment through a physical body within that environment