The role of mental rotations in primate-inspired robot navigation

The use of a primate's spatial ability of mental rotation to serve as a basis for robotic navigation has been almost entirely overlooked by the robotics community to date. In this paper, the role of this cognitive capacity is presented as an adjunct to existing robotic control systems, with the underlying approach being derived from studies of primate spatial cognition. Specifically, optical flow is used as a basis for transitory representations (snapshots) that are compared to an a priori visual goal to provide corrective course action for a robot when moving through the world. The underlying architecture and procedures are described.