Title
Motor-Skill Learning in an Insect Inspired Neuro-Computational Control System.
Abstract
In nature, insects show impressive adaptation and learning capabilities. The proposed computational model takes inspiration from specific structures of the insect brain: after proposing key hypotheses on the direct involvement of the mushroom bodies (MBs) and on their neural organization, we developed a new architecture for motor learning to be applied in insect-like walking robots. The proposed model is a nonlinear control system based on spiking neurons. MBs are modeled as a nonlinear recurrent spiking neural network (SNN) with novel characteristics, able to memorize time evolutions of key parameters of the neural motor controller, so that existing motor primitives can be improved. The adopted control scheme enables the structure to efficiently cope with goal-oriented behavioral motor tasks. Here, a six-legged structure, showing a steady-state exponentially stable locomotion pattern, is exposed to the need of learning new motor skills: moving through the environment, the structure is able to modulate motor commands and implements an obstacle climbing procedure. Experimental results on a simulated hexapod robot are reported; they are obtained in a dynamic simulation environment and the robot mimicks the structures of Drosophila melanogaster.
Year
DOI
Venue
2017
10.3389/fnbot.2017.00012
FRONTIERS IN NEUROROBOTICS
Keywords
Field
DocType
insect brain,insect mushroom bodies,learning,spiking neural controllers,goal-oriented behavior
Motor learning,Communication,Computer science,Motor skill,Nonlinear control,Motor controller,Artificial intelligence,Control system,Robot,Hexapod,Spiking neural network,Machine learning
Journal
Volume
ISSN
Citations 
11
1662-5218
6
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.46
20
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Eleonora Arena170.82
Paolo Arena226147.43
Roland Strauss3111.73
Luca Patané410417.31