I have a robotic rabbit and she will move round a room that she knows with no great problem. Occasionally she gets stuck, with one foot at each side of the leg of a stool, for example, but usually manages to avoid obstacles and can be quite able to move without problems. Until she has new batteries, when she has to 'learn' again.
But in an unfamiliar room, she also has to learn anew how to miss obstacles etc.
Robotic learning?
I would be really interested to know; thank you.
I have just reviewed my rabbit as requested by the manufacturer; I mentioned that she sometimes does not 'learn' from her mistakes, even when she has not just had new batteries, giving her a score of 3/5.
But added that I wouldn't be without her!
I call her 'Grace' after the vocalist on the song 'White Rabbit'!
Your robotic rabbit demonstrates a form of simple adaptive behavior that resembles robotic learning, though it may not involve true machine learning. In familiar rooms, she likely relies on a combination of sensor feedback and pre-programmed responses to navigate smoothly, appearing as if she has "learned" the space. When she gets stuck, such as with one foot on each side of a stool leg, it highlights the limitations of her programming in handling unusual physical configurations. The behavior change after new batteries is particularly interesting—it suggests that motor speed or sensor calibration may be affected by power levels, requiring her to re-adapt to slight changes in how her body behaves, even in a known environment. In unfamiliar spaces, her apparent need to "learn" again is likely a process of reapplying obstacle-avoidance routines in a new context, rather than building a memory or model of the space. While not true learning in the artificial intelligence sense, her behavior mimics how more sophisticated robots use sensor data and environmental feedback to adapt, and it provides a fascinating look into the foundations of robotic navigation and adaptation.
Maybe the rabbit records the starting position, past movements, and mistakes. When the rabbit makes mistakes, she learns the corresponding movements, and will not do the same movement again. However, this information will be meaningless when her position is changed by human. Such a change could be detected when "safe" movement causes mistake. In this case, the rabbit will reset the information and learn again.
Did you touch her before changing battery? What happens if you move the rabbit from one place to another in the same room? Will she get stuck?
Sunish Vengathattil
Thank you very much for your response. Your response taught me a lot. Really interesting. I know little about anything robotic so what you wrote has all been new information to me. I'm going to go back and read it again!
Dr Toshitaka Hayashi
Thank you very much for your response. I also learnt a lot from reading what you responded to me. Thanks again.
These are videos of little Grace; they show her circling round but also getting out of difficulty!
I had changed the AVI files to mp4, so I hope they are accessible
But because I could not open the mp4 files, I have restored the AVI files.
HOWEVER - I found the FLV (see below) the best for me!
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