Learning Complex Tasks Using a Stepwise Approach

  • Authors:
  • E. Burdet;M. Nuttin

  • Affiliations:
  • School of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada/ e-mail: Email: e.burdet@ieee.org/ http:URL: //www.sfu.ca/&tilde/eburdet;Division PMA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, K. U. Leuven, Belgium/ e-mail: Email: marnix.nuttin@mech.kuleuven.ac.be/ URL: http://www.mech.kuleuven.ac.be/pma/pma.html

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems
  • Year:
  • 1999

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This paper explores a stepwise learning approach based on asystem’s decomposition into functional subsystems. Two case studiesare examined: a visually guided robot that learns to track a maneuveringobject, and a robot that learns to use the information from a force sensorin order to put a peg into a hole. These two applications show the featuresand advantages of the proposed approach: i) the subsystems naturally ariseas functional components of the hardware and software; ii) these subsystemsare building blocks of the robot behavior and can be combined in severalways for performing various tasks; iii) this decomposition makes it easierto check the performances and detect the cause of a malfunction; iv) onlythose subsystems for which a satisfactory solution is not available need tobe learned; v) the strategy proposed for coordinating the optimization ofall subsystems ensures an improvement at the task-level; vi) the overallsystem’s behavior is significantly improved by the stepwise learningapproach.