The results of a research project, funded by the European Union (EU), that aimed at replicating human traits was presented by researchers. The project involved training robots to replicate humans in areas including spatial perception, holding objects, and vision.
Over a period of three years, the researchers of EYESHOTS have made significant progress in monitoring the interaction between movement and vision. They have also developed an innovative three-dimensional visual system fitted with robotic arms. Robots can watch, be conscious of their environment and recollect the image information as a result of the advanced visual system incorporated in it.
The Director of the Robotic Intelligence Laboratory of the Universitat Jaume I, Ángel Pasqual del Pobil, stated that it is crucial to refine basic functions in order to improve a humanoid’s interactive capabilities with its environment. His team designed a system comprising a robot head with eyes that can move and a torso fitted with articulated robot arms. The results of the study were validated by his research team at the University of Castellón.
During the initial phase of the study, researchers recorded the neurons of monkeys involved in visual-motor coordination. From the neural information, the experts simulated computer models of a particular portion of the brain that matches images with eye and arm movements. The EYESHOTS consortium has determined that the human brain does not need to calculate the coordinates of an object to perform a grasping movement.
Source: http://www.ruvid.org/