Lindstrom 1 Nathan W.

Lindstrom Professor Strozier Minds and Machines July 4, 2010 Simple Brain Model This paper will attempt to first outline, and then later detail, a relatively simple artificial brain. In order to define this primitive brain we must first set forth its starting state, or rather, the initial environment in which it finds itself, and then the final state to which we intend it to evolve (learn). The initial environment can be characterized as an infinite three-dimensional maze constructed from a level surface (in other words, no steps, drops, or inclines) broken up by vertical walls which are straight except for when they branch, and when branching, they always do so at a 90 degree angle. The starting point for the mobile device or robot that contains our brain is anywhere within this infinite maze, and the ending point is undefined. The reason the ending point is undefined will become clear momentarily. First, consider that the simplest possible brain would be one wherein it does nothing; it simply sits at the starting point. The next simplest brain would be one that is equipped with the following inputs and outputs:

Lindstrom 2

This brain could, given enough time, stumble blindly through the maze. It would never improve in efficiency, would be liable to go in circles, and in terms of survivability (if some kind of danger to the robot was present) is about the worse possible solution. The end point of this maze, therefore, should not be any particular physical location, but rather, a state wherein the brain has learned how to navigate the maze in such a way that: 1. Collisions never occur, and 2. Previously-covered ground is not retraced For these two conditions to be eventually satisfied after starting without any existing programming will require that the brain be capable of learning, possess some kind of memory, and be able to increasingly choose an optimal solution to a given problem. In other words, the brain should be an artificial neural network (ANN). In addition, the inputs to this ANN should not be the raw feed from the robots sensors but instead the output from a layer of abstraction that lies between the sensors themselves and the brain. The idea here is that the physical sensors

Lindstrom 3 and their controllers should build up and maintain a virtual model of reality which the brain examines in order to make decisions:

The output, or decision-side of the brain, will consist of another virtual model of reality with links to devices that affect the physical world (for example, motion.) However, this model will be of the reality that the robot wants (programmed and learned directives) and not merely a copy of the input-side model. The brains end goal then is to utilize its output controls to modify the input model to align as closely as possible with the output model, and to update the output model as needed:

Lindstrom 4

The brain, or ANN, consists of a great many interconnected nodes, roughly divided into three groups:

Lindstrom 5

Each input node (or cluster of input nodes) will ultimately represent a certain reoccurring state within the external model (for example, a vertical surface that is two meters away, closing at a rate of 0.25 meters per second, connecting to a parallel surface on the left, and ending four meters away on the right.) Each output node (or cluster of output nodes) will represent specific desired states within the internal model. For example, a vertical surface sufficiently off to the left that its corner will be overtaken and safely passed at 0.25 meters per second. Accomplishing this will involve maintaining a steady speed while briefly steering to the right, going straight for a short period of time, and then briefly steering to the left. The hidden nodes will eventually learn a connection between the starting state shown in the external model and the ending state shown in the internal model. Given sufficient time (experience) an increasingly rapid and accurate response to changes within the external model will lead to the robot appearing to deftly avoid walls and steer expertly around corners and down hallways.

Nod

Nod

Nod

Lindstrom 6 Works Cited Casti, John L. Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science. New York: William Morrow & Company, 1990. Pinker, Steven. How the Mind Works. New York: Norton, 2009. Rucker, Rudy. Infinity and the Mind. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1995.