Development of a Robot with a Sense of Self

Abstract

-This paper describes our efforts to develop a robot with a sense of self using a multiagent-based cognitive architecture and control with three distinctive memory systems, namely (1) spatio-temporal short-term memory, (2) procedural / declarative / episodic long-term memory and (3) a task-oriented adaptive working memory based on psychological and computational neuroscience models. Such a robot may be called a cognitive robot. Cognitive robots share a number of key features with conscious machines. We explore the interface between cognitive robots and conscious machines through an internal model called the Self Agent.

Internal state predictability as an evolutionary precursor of self-awareness and agency

“…Exploring one's internal state can lead to a sense of self. The sense of self may be a prerequisite to building a machine with consciousness [12].…”

Visual Attention for Robotic Cognition: A Survey

“…The perfection in the modeling of robotic visual attention, therefore, is closely related to the perfection in the modeling of other cognitive functions. Few efforts are observed in the current literature on the modeling of value system, human-like reasoning and knowledge representation for robotic systems [113]- [116]. These efforts, however, are mostly discrete and do not investigate the effect of other cognitive abilities on the visual attention behavior.…”

The role of attention in robot self-awareness

“…He is able to select activities that are more significant and meaningful to him as determined by his sense of self. This scenario is similar to the ISAC scenario where ISAC asks people to leave the room when a "fire" stimulus is detected [11], [12].…”

“…Kawamura et al [11], [12] developed the Intelligent SoftArm Control (ISAC) robot that is not self-aware in the sense that it cannot recognize itself in a mirror, but it can deliberate on its emotions based on memory experience. Self-reflection, self-awareness and sense-of-self are represented by a self-agent which consists of a set of agents interacting with memory systems.…”

“…human world) contains complex information where selfawareness in systems can enable improved performance and more operational flexibility. Robotic systems have been developed to be aware of their own motion [15], able to imitate [19], [20], driven by emotion [11], [12], and able to change their own models of their physical embodiment [3]. Important work in cognitive robotics in reasoning about action and reasoning about knowledge [18], [13], [7] is relevant.…”