Foundations for learning and adaptation in a multi-degree-of-freedom unmanned ground vehicle

Abstract

The real-time coordination and control of a many motion degrees of freedom (dof) unmanned ground vehicle under dynamic conditions in a complex environment is nearly impossible for a human operator to accomplish. Needed are adaptive on-board mechanisms to quickly complete sensor-effector loops to maintain balance and leverage. This paper contains a description of our approach to the control problem for a small unmanned ground vehicle with six dof in the three spatial dimensions. Vehicle control is based upon seven fixed action patterns that exercise all of the motion dof of which the vehicle is capable, and five basic reactive behaviors that protect the vehicle during operation. The reactive behaviors demonstrate short-term adaptations. The learning processes for long-term adaptations of the vehicle control functions that we are implementing are composed of classical and operant conditionings of novel responses to information available from distance sensors (vision and audition) built upon the pre-defined fixed action patterns. The fixed action patterns are in turn modulated by the pre-defined low-level reactive behaviors that, as unconditioned responses, continuously serve to maintain the viability of the robot during the activations of the fixed action patterns, and of the higher-order (conditioned) behaviors. The sensors of the internal environment that govern the low-level reactive behaviors also serve as the criteria for operant conditioning, and satisfy the requirement for basic behavioral motivation.