Self-organized multi-modular Robotic Control

In the present paper we show that a set of self-organizing modules can produce complex Behaviors in a robot consisting of a Car that carries an articulated arm. The free end of the arm has an IR sensor that senses an environmental IR Beacon. The self-organization is implemented through self-inactivating modules. Every module moves, stepwise, a different motor(or set of concurrent motors) of the robot in one direction or the other. The modules first move and then determine if the distance from a robot sensor to a selected object has been shortened. If this is the case, the module’s next movement is in the direction of the previous movement. If this distance is longer than the previous one, the next movement is in the opposite direction. But if the movement produces no significant change in distance, the module self-deactivates. The self-organization is in the module’s sustained activity. The modules were programmed in C language on a PC. The Main program calls the modules in a cyclical order. However, the sustained activity of the modules does not depend on this calling order. Actually, the Main Program could call the modules in any order and the free-end of the arm will eventually reach the Beacon from any initial position and initial attitude. However, some pair-nested together with a certain calling order of the pairs greatly improved the effectiveness of the Behavior. Since the calling order does not determine the sustained activity of any module or nesting pair, the Main Program does not actually select actions, but induces them. Thus, the robot control is not strictly hierarchical. We have implemented a structure that could be called a Central Nervous System Seed for a robot: a modular, self–organizing, attentional, polyfunctional and potentially growing robotic control system.