Artículos

A Hybrid Approach in the Development of Behavior Based Robotics

Un Enfoque Híbrido en el Desarrollo de Robótica Basada en el Comportamiento

Fernando Montes González¹, Carlos Alberto Ochoa Ortíz Zezzatti², Luis Felipe Marín–Urías³ and Jöns Sánchez Aguilar⁴

¹ Departamento de Física e Inteligencia Artificial, Universidad Veracruzana, fmontes@uv.mx

² Instituto de Ingeniería y Tecnología (Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y Computación): UACJ, megamax8@hotmail.com

³ CNRS–LAAS, Toulouse, France, lfmarin@laas.fr

⁴ CIATEC (Centro CONACYT), León de los Aldama; México, jons_sanchez@hotmail.com

Article received on July 31, 2009.
Accepted on October 29, 2009

Abstract

In this paper we present the development of a method that combines the evolutionary robotics approach with action selection. A collection task is set in an arena where a Khepera robot has to collect cylinders that simulate food. Furthermore, two basic motivations, labeled as 'fear' and 'hunger', both affect the selection of the behavioral repertoire. In this paper we propose an initial evolutionary stage where behavioral modules are designed as separate selectable modules. Next, we use evolution for optimizing the motivated selection network employed for behavioral switching. Finally, we compare evolved selection with hand–coded selection, which offers some interesting results that support the use of a hybrid approach in the development of behavior–based robotics.

Keywords: Action Selection, Evolutionary Robotics, Behavior–Based Robotics, Bioinspired Algorithms.

Resumen

En este artículo se presenta el desarrollo de un método que combina el enfoque de robótica evolutiva con el de selección de acción. De manera que en una arena se implementa una tarea de recolección para el robot Khepera que debe recoger cilindros simulando comida. Existen dos motivaciones denominadas 'miedo' y 'hambre' que afectan la selección de módulos conductuales. En este artículo se propone una etapa inicial evolutiva donde se diseñan estos módulos conductuales para que puedan ser elegibles usando selección de acción. Posteriormente se emplea evolución para optimizar la red de selección de acción. Finalmente, se comparan el ajuste de selección obtenido mediante evolución artificial y mediante un diseñador humano, favoreciendo el uso de un enfoque híbrido en el desarrollo de robótica basada en el comportamiento.

Palabras clave: Selección de Acción, Robótica Evolutiva, Robótica Basada en el Comportamiento, Algoritmos Bioinspirados.

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