Connecting Artificial Brains to Robots in a Comprehensive Simulation Framework: The Neurorobotics Platform.
Combined efforts in the fields of neuroscience, computer science, and biology allowed to design biologically realistic models of the brain based on spiking neural networks. For a proper validation of these models, an embodiment in a dynamic and rich sensory environment, where the model is exposed to a realistic sensory-motor task, is needed. Due to the complexity of these brain models that, at the current stage, cannot deal with real-time constraints, it is not possible to embed them into a real-world task. Rather, the embodiment has to be simulated as well. While adequate tools exist to simulate either complex neural networks or robots and their environments, there is so far no tool that allows to easily establish a communication between brain and body models. The Neurorobotics Platform is a new web-based environment that aims to fill this gap by offering scientists and technology developers a software infrastructure allowing them to connect brain models to detailed simulations of robot bodies and environments and to use the resulting neurorobotic systems forin silicoexperimentation. In order to simplify the workflow and reduce the level of the required programming skills, the platform provides editors for the specification of experimental sequences and conditions, environments, robots, and brain-body connectors. In addition to that, a variety of existing robots and environments are provided. This work presents the architecture of the first release of the Neurorobotics Platform developed insubproject 10 "Neurorobotics"of the Human Brain Project (HBP). At the current state, the Neurorobotics Platform allows researchers to design and run basic experiments in neurorobotics using simulated robots and simulated environments linked to simplified versions of brain models. We illustrate the capabilities of the platform with three example experiments: a Braitenberg task implemented on a mobile robot, a sensory-motor learning task based on a robotic controller, and a visual tracking embedding a retina model on the iCub humanoid robot. These use-cases allow to assess the applicability of the Neurorobotics Platform for robotic tasks as well as in neuroscientific experiments.
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna , Pontedera , Italy.
Egidio
E
Falotico
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna , Pontedera , Italy.
Lorenzo
L
Vannucci
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna , Pontedera , Italy.
Alessandro
A
Ambrosano
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna , Pontedera , Italy.
Ugo
U
Albanese
Department of Intelligent Systems and Production Engineering (ISPE - IDS/TKS), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Stefan
S
Ulbrich
Department of Intelligent Systems and Production Engineering (ISPE - IDS/TKS), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Juan Camilo
JC
Vasquez Tieck
Department of Software Engineering (SE), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Georg
G
Hinkel
Department of Intelligent Systems and Production Engineering (ISPE - IDS/TKS), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Jacques
J
Kaiser
Department of Intelligent Systems and Production Engineering (ISPE - IDS/TKS), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Igor
I
Peric
Department of Software Engineering (SE), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Oliver
O
Denninger
Computer and Robot Vision Laboratory, Instituto de Sistemas e Robotica, Instituto Superior Tecnico , Lisbon , Portugal.
Nino
N
Cauli
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna , Pontedera , Italy.
Murat
M
Kirtay
Department of Intelligent Systems and Production Engineering (ISPE - IDS/TKS), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Arne
A
Roennau
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Gudrun
G
Klinker
Fortiss GmbH , Munich , Germany.
Axel
A
Von Arnim
Blue Brain Project (BBP), École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , Genève , Switzerland.
Luc
L
Guyot
Blue Brain Project (BBP), École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , Genève , Switzerland.
Daniel
D
Peppicelli
Department of Computer Architecture and Technology, CITIC, University of Granada , Granada , Spain.
Pablo
P
Martínez-Cañada
Department of Computer Architecture and Technology, CITIC, University of Granada , Granada , Spain.
Eduardo
E
Ros
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Patrick
P
Maier
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Sandro
S
Weber
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Manuel
M
Huber
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
David
D
Plecher
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Florian
F
Röhrbein
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Stefan
S
Deser
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Alina
A
Roitberg
Fortiss GmbH , Munich , Germany.
Patrick
P
van der Smagt
Department of Intelligent Systems and Production Engineering (ISPE - IDS/TKS), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Rüdiger
R
Dillman
Department of Intelligent Systems and Production Engineering (ISPE - IDS/TKS), FZI Research Center for Information Technology , Karlsruhe , Germany.
Paul
P
Levi
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna , Pontedera , Italy.
Cecilia
C
Laschi
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich , Garching , Germany.
Alois C
AC
Knoll
Blue Brain Project (BBP), École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , Genève , Switzerland.
Marc-Oliver
MO
Gewaltig
brain simulation; neurorobotics; robot programming; robot simulation; software architectures; web technologies