Robot Ethology: A Proposal for the Research into Intelligent Autonomous Systems

In this paper it is argued that studying the behaviour of (even simple) animals and human beings from an Ethologist's point of view will provide a basis for understanding human cognition. A simple model of the organisation of behavioural sequences in animals as described by Niko Tinbergen [1] and Konrad Lorenz [2] is presented as an starting point to develop intelligent autonomous systems. The relation to current research into behaviour-based Robotics is shown (cf. Brooks [3]) and essential extensions to the behavioural model such as optimisation procedures based on genetic algorithms and evolution technology, a framework to link basic sensory-motor skills to higher-order categorical perception as described by the symbol grounding problem and more advanced models of the organisation of behaviour are presented. In particular, self-organisational processes are advocated as a key feature in achieving intelligent behaviour of autonomous robots.