The Critterbot Project is an initiative of the Reinforcement Learning and Artificial Intelligence (RLAI)
lab at the University of Alberta. Research is primarily driven by
reinforcement learning techniques; predictive state representation,
dyna, temporal difference nets, options and option models, and others.
Subjective representation of knowledge is a central theme, incoming
sensor observations of the world are not filtered or normalized beyond
the internal mechanisms of the sensors. We hope to gain experience in
sensorimotor models in robotics, connecting low-level experiences and
high-level knowledge, teaching and interaction, life-long learning, and
real time reinforcement learning. Have a look at this video to know more.
Crittergui can replay
log files or start the
Critterbot Simulator: an excellent platform for getting familiar with the Critterbot interface
as well as stand alone research. The simulator is still in development but already has been used by several different
groups.
Medias: demo of the Critterbot, all the videos, images.
Critterbot Twitter News Feed
July 6, 2010
Outstanding Critterbot 'Issues', including software, hardware, and
simulator issues, will be tracked with Google Code. The three statuses
for a given issue are 'Open' (this is an issue the group is focusing on
closing), 'Closed' (a resolved issue), and 'WontFix' (an abandoned
issue). Our Google Code page is accessible on the left, or
you can go directly to the Issues page
here.
March 25, 2010
The log
files from first attempts at day-long experiments, as well as
binary releases of Crittergui,
are now available.
March 4, 2010
The Critterbot is back to operational.
March 3, 2010
The Critterbot is currently down for an
extended series of maintenance tasks. Michael Delp has solved the
problem with the Wiimote, which is now back to operational.
September 15, 2009
Marc and Thomas had to reflash the AVRs. The robot should no longer be
wandering around during the night.
September 4, 2009
The robot has a prototype docking station and beacon in the pen that
allows it to charge itself once it's batteries are low, and this
behavior has been successfully demonstrated. All originally planned
sensors except for the bump sensors are operational and reporting full
precision data. Stall protection and velocity limiting has been
implemented on the motors.
June 29, 2009
The battery charger is functional and ready to use this week. There are
some hardware issues with the new computer that among other things
require it to be sent back for factory modifications, it will not be
ready in the near future. July is slated to be the first long-run test
of the platform, with everyone encouraged to work with it as much as
possible. Many improvements in the firmware have made things much less
buggy, though there is still some work to be done.
June 9, 2009
The robot is back together with some new hardware and the ability to
charge its own batteries. Following the MSRL conference later this
month the new on-board computer (Intel Atom based) will be installed,
along with an updated Disco that should provide easier C++/Java
communication.
April 18, 2009
The design for the on-board charger is being tested and a revised power
board for the robot incorporating charging should be finished by
mid-May. The first serious endurance tests for the platform put battery
life at about 6-7 hours of constant use. Also in the works is a major
revision to Disco as it approaches its first official release later
this summer.
March 30,
2009
The Critterbot Mach I
exists in hardware beta, many features are functional but a bit rough
around the edges still. We have collected some data, available in the logs section,
and will be adding more as testing continues. There is a 2.5 x 2.5m pen
in the lab for the Critterbot to begin learning in a safe environment.
The robot has recently demonstrated it's first learned behavior, a
simple photovore agent, using tile coding. Many more experiments are
slated for the near future