D2.1 Requirements and Specification - CORBYS

D2.1 Requirements and Specification
behaviours including reflexes, voluntary motion behaviours, and knowledge acquisition modules providing
task-oriented information about the robot environment. Zhang & Zhu (2004) present a multi-agent based
architecture using a distributed communication infrastructure and an event-driven situation evaluation agent
for outdoor mobile robot navigation where event-driven control is used to handle the dynamic change in the
environment. Smartfire (Petridis and Knight, 2001) uses the blackboard architecture in a hybrid CBR system
for the automatic set-up of fire field models which enables fire safety practitioners who are not expert in
modelling techniques to use a fire modelling tool. This hybrid system demonstrates the power of blackboard
with a common knowledge representation and mechanisms for adaptation and conflict resolution.
Psyclone is a generic framework for AI, which includes support for multimodal input (vision, audio, speech
and other sensor input) and modular cognitive processing and multimodal output generation (speech and
animated output). It is a message-based middleware for developing large distributed systems (Thórisson
2005). It introduces the concept of a whiteboard, an extension of the blackboard model which allows
heterogeneous systems to be connected together. The Psyclone framework consists of a number of
whiteboards, each functioning as a publisher/subscriber of information. Data is retained by whiteboards for a
time period, in a searchable database for later retrieval by modules needing historical information. Psyclone
acts as a central connection point for modules using whiteboards. It also allows supervision of the system at
runtime using a built-in monitoring system. Time-stamped information on whiteboards can be viewed and the
content of individual messages can be read.
11.4 Summary on technology gaps and priorities for development in CORBYS
The state-of-the-art review highlights various existing concepts that have already been developed and are
fairly well-established in literature. It is foreseen that a maximally optimum combination of existing concepts
in light of requirements for CORBYS will provide solid foundations for the CORBYS situation assessment
and awareness cognitive architecture. The following aspects have, in particular, been identified as points of
interest where the CORBYS project can contribute to research and development of context-and-situationaware
cognitive architecture: i) observation (and learning) of cyclic patterns of gait, ii) identification of
deviation from established normal gait pattern, iii) rectifications suggested to human-in-the-loop,
iv) facilitation for user refinement (level 5 in the revised model JDL/DFG model). In order to present generic
architecture for situation awareness, the blackboard solution is seen as the most suitable for several reasons.
Components developed in CORBYS can be used as reusable off-the-shelf publishers and subscribers of the
blackboard system and this enables ease of deployment in other application domains, where CORBYS
solutions may be used. Moreover, through multiple publisher and subscriber components, the use of
blackboard will enable isolation of the CORBYS cognitive architecture from the application domains e.g. the
two CORBYS demonstrators. Domain specific requirements can be addressed by specialist publisher
components developed to work with the blackboard. A major technology gap/challenge is to develop suitable
fusion algorithms for the CORBYS gait rehabilitation platform, and for the CORBYS mobile robot for
examination of hazardous areas.
12 State­of­the­Art in Behaviour Generation, Anticipation and Initiation
(UH)
12.1 Introductory Comments
The state-of-the-art of various forms of cognitive mechanisms concerning behaviour anticipation, -generation
and initiation will be considered.
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