Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R95722/01
Title:	Robot control using a model of central structures in the vertebrate brain
Principal Investigator:	Prescott, Professor T
Other Investigators:	Gurney, Professor K Redgrave, Professor P
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Psychology
Organisation:	University of Sheffield
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 September 2002	Ends:	31 August 2005	Value (£):	161,244
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Cognitive Science Appl. in ICT Robotics & Autonomy
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics Healthcare Information Technologies
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The design of control architectures that can generate integrated behaviour in multi-tasking, multi-actuator robots remains a central issue for researc autonomous robotics. There is also an increasing awareness in the robotics research community that an effective strategy for solving complex problem in robot design is to 'reverse-engineer' the biological control systems that underlie animal behaviour. The goal of this project is to develop a biomime 'integrative core' for robust and effective robot control by investigating candidate control architectures with embedded components modelled on key structures in the vertebrate brain. We will focus on two specific brain systems that are hypothesised to play an important role in action selection-the basal ganglia and the reticular formation. A series of novel robot control architectures will be developed based around biologically-accurate models of these structures and alternative hypotheses concerning their roles and interactions within the full functional architecture of the brain. Each candidate architecture will be evaluated on benchmark tasks designed to emulate aspects of animal foraging behaviour. Two important issues in contemporar robotics to be specifically addressed are the trade-off between heterarchical and hierarchical control, and the benefits of layered control architecture The development of embedded models of the basal ganglia and reticular formation should also have important implications for understanding the ro these structures in human brain function and dysfunction.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.shef.ac.uk