FWF-Adaptve RobotSteurg - Adaptive Control of Humanoid Robots based on Principles of Computation and Learning in Neural Microcircuits

The performance of humanoid robots and other complex robotic systems in natural environments is still unsatisfactory. This interdisciplinary research project develops novel solutions for robot control, especially for humanoid robots, that emerge from new insight into real-time computing and adaptivity in neural microcircuits of biological organisms. This strategy leads to the investigation of novel computational organizations and learning strategies for sensory-motor loops that integrate on a more abstract level salient principles of biological motor control. The research will be carried out jointly by robotic experts from the BIRG (Biologically Inspired Research Group) at EPFL (Lausanne), the Brain Mind Institute at EPFL (Lausanne), and the Institut für Grundlagen der Informationsverarbeitung, TU Graz, with funding provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Brain Mind Institute at EPFL, and the FWF in Austria.