Volitron: On a Psychodynamic Robot and Its Four Realities

Abstract

This paper discusses the concept of Volitron - a controller to make its host robot increase its competence in such activities as self-initiated exploration of an environment, new goal acquisition, and planning/executing of actions while taking into account predicted behaviors of objects of interest. There are four key elements in Volitron's structure: a model of perceived reality, a model of desired reality, a model of ideal reality and a model of anticipated reality. The task of a robot's working memory includes producing images of the robot itself imitating another subject's activities and sending the images to a model of desired reality. A tension (a concept borrowed from psychoanalysis) arising from the differences between a perceived reality and a desired reality is a source of a motivation toward action. The final decision to take an action is based on a comparison of the model of anticipated reality with that of ideal reality. The interaction of Volitron's elements are described in the paper. Furthermore, a computational model of working memory (WM) and its psychological justification are provided.