The Dependence of Braking Strategies on Optical Variables in an Evolved Model of Visually-Guided Braking

This paper presents results from two sets of experiments which investigate how strategies used by embodied dynamical agents in a simple braking task are affected by the perceptual information that the agents receive. Agents are evolved in a simple 2D environment containing one stationary object. The task of the agents is to stop as close as possible to the object without hitting it. The results of these experiments demonstrate that most of the evolved agents use an impulsive braking strategy, in which deceleration is not controlled continuously. Potential causes of this impulsive braking strategy and possible future directions are discussed.