Ignazio Infantino

A cognitive framework for imitation learning

Abstract In order to have a robotic system able to effectively learn by imitation, and not merely reproduce the movements of a human teacher, the system should have the capabilities of deeply understanding the perceived actions to be imitated. This paper deals with the development of cognitive architecture for learning by imitation in which a rich conceptual representation of the observed actions is built. The purpose of the following discussion is to show how this Conceptual Area can be employed to efficiently organize perceptual data, to learn movement primitives from human demonstration and to generate complex actions by combining and sequencing simpler ones. The proposed architecture has been tested on a robotic system composed of a PUMA 200 industrial manipulator and an anthropomorphic robotic hand.

A Framework for Sign Language Sentence Recognition by Commonsense Context

This correspondence proposes a complete framework for sign language recognition that integrates a commonsense engine in order to deal with sentence recognition. The proposed system is based on a multilevel architecture that allows modeling and managing of the knowledge of the recognition process in a simple and robust way. The final abstraction level of this architecture introduces the semantic context and the analysis of the correctness of a sentence given in a sequence of recognized signs. Experimentations are presented using a set of signs from the Italian sign language (LIS) for domotic applications. The implemented system maintains a high recognition rate when the set of signs grows, correcting erroneously recognized single signs using the sentence context.

Experiences with cicerobot, a museum guide cognitive robot

The paper describes CiceRobot, a robot based on a cognitive architecture for robot vision and action. The aim of the architecture is to integrate visual perception and actions with knowledge representation, in order to let the robot to generate a deep inner understanding of its environment. The principled integration of perception, action and of symbolic knowledge is based on the introduction of an intermediate representation based on Gardenfors conceptual spaces. The architecture has been tested on a RWI B21 autonomous robot on tasks related with guided tours in the Archaeological Museum of Agrigento. Experimental results are presented.

I Feel Blue: Robots and Humans Sharing Color Representation for Emotional Cognitive Interaction

The paper presents a representation of colors integrated in a cognitive architecture inspired by the Psi model. In the architecture designed for a humanoid robot, the observation and recognition of humans and objects influence the emotional state of the robot. The representation of color is an additional feature that allows the robot to be “in tune” with the humans and share with them a physical space and interactions. This representation takes into account the current hypothesis about how the human brain allows sophisticated process and manage the colors, considering both universals and linguistic approaches. The paper describes in detail the problems of color representation, the potential of a cognitive architecture able to associate them with emotions, and how they can influence the interactions with the human.

A Posture Sequence Learning System for an Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand

The paper presents a cognitive architecture for posture learning of an anthropomorphic robotic hand. Our approach is aimed to allow the robotic system to perform complex perceptual operations, to interact with an human user and to integrate the perceptions by a cognitive representation of the scene and the observed actions. The anthropomorphic robotic hand imitates the gestures acquired by the vision system in order to learn meaningful movements, to build its knowledge by different conceptual spaces and to perform complex interaction with the human operator.

IMITATION LEARNING AND ANCHORING THROUGH CONCEPTUAL SPACES

In order to have a robotic system able to effectively learn by imitation and not merely reproduce the movements of a human teacher, the system should have the capability to deeply understand the perceived actions to be imitated. This paper deals with the development of a cognitive architecture for learning by imitation in which a rich conceptual representation of the observed actions is built. The purpose of the following discussion is to show how the same conceptual representation can be used both in a bottom-up approach, in order to learn sequences of actions by imitation learning paradigm, and in a top-down approach, in order to anchor the symbolical representations to the perceptual activities of the robotic system. Experiments concerned with the problem of teaching a humanoid robotic system simple manipulative tasks are reported.

Creation and cognition for humanoid live dancing

Abstract Computational creativity in dancing is a recent and challenging research field in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. We present a cognitive architecture embodied in a humanoid robot capable to create and perform dances driven by the perception of music. The humanoid robot is able to suitably move, to react to human mate dancers and to generate novel and appropriate sequences of movements. The approach is based on a cognitive architecture that integrates Hidden Markov Models and Genetic Algorithms. The system has been implemented on a NAO robot and tested in public setting-up live performances, obtaining positive feedbacks from the audience.

Visual control of a robotic hand

The paper deals with the design and implementation of a visual control of a robotic system composed of a dexterous hand and stereo cameras. The aim of the proposed system is to reproduce the movements of a human hand in order to learn complex manipulation tasks. A novelty algorithm for a robust and fast fingertips localization and tracking is presented. Moreover, a simulator is integrated in the system to give useful feedbacks to the users during operations, and provide robust testing framework for real experiments.

Humanoid Introspection: A Practical Approach

Abstract We describe an approach to robot introspection based on self observation and communication. Self observation is what the robot should do in order to build, represent and understand its internal state. It is necessary to translate the state representation in order to build a suitable input to an ontology that supplies the meaning of the internal state. The ontology supports the linguistic level that is used to communicate information about the robot state to the human user.

Anchoring by imitation learning in conceptual spaces

In order to have a robotic system able to effectively learn by imitation, and not merely reproduce the movements of a human teacher, the system should have the capabilities of deeply understanding the perceived actions to be imitated. This paper deals with the development of a cognitive architecture for learning by imitation in which a rich conceptual representation of the observed actions is built. The purpose of the following discussion is to show how the same conceptual representation can be used both in a bottom-up approach, in order to learn sequences of actions by imitation learning paradigm, and in a top-down approach, in order to anchor the symbolical representations to the perceptual activities of the robotic system. The proposed architecture has been tested on the robotic system composed of a PUMA 200 industrial manipulator and an anthropomorphic robotic hand. The system demonstrated the ability to learn and imitate a set of movement primitives acquired through the vision system for simple manipulative purposes.