Attention-based navigation in mobile robots using a reconfigurable sensor

In this paper, a method for visual attentional selection in mobile robots is proposed, based on amplification of the selected stimulus. Attention processing is performed on the vision sensor, which is integrated on a silicon chip and consists of a contrast sensitive retina with the ability to change the local inhibitory strength between adjacent pixel elements. As a result, the sensitivity to visual contrast at a particular region of the retina can be adjusted. As the local inhibitory strength can be regulated from outside of the chip. a reconfigurable sensor is realized. This "attention-retina" was tested on an autonomous robot (MorphoII) which was given the task of selecting a line to follow while there were two alternatives. The robot develops directional preference by associating its visual stimulus with an electrical energy providing stimulus, in this case a solar cell. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.