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This paper proposes a Bayesian approach for minimizing the time of finding an object of uncertain location and dynamics using several moving sensing agents with constrained dynamics. The approach exploits twice the Bayesian theory: on one hand, it uses a Bayesian formulation of the objective functions that compare the constrained paths of the agents and on the other hand, a Bayesian optimization algorithm to solve the problem. By combining both elements, our approach handles successfully this complex problem, as illustrated by the results over different scenarios presented and statistically analyzed in the paper. Finally, the paper also discusses other formulations of the problem and compares the properties of our approach with others closely related.

The predictive functions that permit humans to infer their body state by sensorimotor integration are critical to perform safe interaction in complex environments. These functions are adaptive and robust to non-linear actuators and noisy sensory information. This paper introduces a computational perceptual model based on predictive processing that enables any multisensory robot to learn, infer and update its body configuration when using arbitrary sensors with Gaussian additive noise. The proposed method integrates different sources of information (tactile, visual and proprioceptive) to drive the robot belief to its current body configuration. The motivation is to enable robots with the embodied perception needed for self-calibration and safe physical human-robot interaction.We formulate body learning as obtaining the forward model that encodes the sensor values depending on the body variables, and we solve it by Gaussian process regression. We model body estimation as minimizing the discrepancy between the robot body configuration belief and the observed posterior. We minimize the variational free energy using the sensory prediction errors (sensed vs expected).In order to evaluate the model we test it on a real multisensory robotic arm. We show how different sensor modalities contributions, included as additive errors, improve the refinement of the body estimation and how the system adapts itself to provide the most plausible solution even when injecting strong sensory visuo-tactile perturbations. We further analyse the reliability of the model when different sensor modalities are disabled. This provides grounded evidence about the correctness of the perceptual model and shows how the robot estimates and adjusts its body configuration just by means of sensory information.Index Terms-Bio-inspired perception, body-schema, predictive processing, embodied artificial intelligence, learning and adaptive systems, humanoid robotics.

This survey presents the most relevant neural network models of autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia, from the first connectionist models to recent deep network architectures. We analyzed and compared the most representative symptoms with its neural model counterpart, detailing the alteration introduced in the network that generates each of the symptoms, and identifying their strengths and weaknesses. For completeness we additionally cross-compared Bayesian and free-energy approaches. Models of schizophrenia mainly focused on hallucinations and delusional thoughts using neural disconnections or inhibitory imbalance as the predominating alteration. Models of autism rather focused on perceptual difficulties, mainly excessive attention to environment details, implemented as excessive inhibitory connections or increased sensory precision. We found an excessive tight view of the psychopathologies around one specific and simplified effect, usually constrained to the technical idiosyncrasy of the network used. Recent theories and evidence on sensorimotor integration and body perception combined with modern neural network architectures offer a broader and novel spectrum to approach these psychopathologies, outlining the future research on neural networks computational psychiatry, a powerful asset for understanding the inner processes of the human brain.