creators_name: Lungarella, Max
creators_name: Berthouze, Luc
creators_id: 
creators_id: 1463
type: confpaper
datestamp: 2002-12-17
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:55:07
metadata_visibility: show
title: Adaptivity through alternate freeing and freezing of degrees of freedom
ispublished: pub
subjects: comp-sci-mach-dynam-sys
subjects: dev-psy
subjects: comp-sci-robot
full_text_status: public
keywords: Developmental robotics
Freeing and freezing of degrees of freedom
Neural oscillators
Developmental biodynamics
abstract: Starting with fewer degrees of freedom has been shown to enable a more efficient exploration of the sensorimotor space. While not necessarily leading to optimal task performance, it results in a smaller number of directions of stability, which guide the coordination of additional degrees of freedom. The developmental release of additional degrees of freedom is then expected to allow for optimal task performance and more tolerance and adaptation to environmental interaction. In this paper, we test this assumption with a small-sized humanoid robot that learns to swing under environmental perturbations. Our experiments show that a progressive release of degrees of freedom alone is not sufficient to cope with environmental perturbations. Instead, alternate freezing and freeing of the degrees of freedom is required. Such finding is consistent with observations made during transitional periods in acquisition of skills in infants.

date: 2002
date_type: published
pagerange: 482-487
refereed: TRUE
citation:   Lungarella, Max and Berthouze, Dr Luc  (2002) Adaptivity through alternate freeing and freezing of degrees of freedom.  [Conference Paper]     
document_url: http://cogprints.org/2663/1/iconip02_final.pdf