Vision Based Robot Behavior: Tools and Testbeds for Real-World AI Research

Vision is a key function not only for robotics but also for AI more generally. Today realtime visual processing is becoming possible; this means that vision based behavior can become more dynamic, opening fertile areas for applications. One aspect of this is real-time visual tracking. We have built a real-time tracking vision system and incorporated it in an integrated robot programming environment. Using this, we have performed experiments in vision based robot behavior and human-robot interaction. In particular, we have developed a robotic system capable of "learning by seeing". In general, it is important for the AI community not to lose sight of the problems and progress of robotics. After all, an AI system which acts in real-time in the real-world is no less (and no more) than an intelligent robot.