Robohub.org
 

Simple robots, complex behaviors: A control systems perspective on Braitenberg Vehicles


by
03 December 2015



share this:

Braitenberg_vehicles_Control_SystemsIn this lecture series, controls expert Brian Douglas walks you through key concepts in control system theory. Focused on making control theory accessible and intuitive, this series is for anyone who wants to relate control concepts to robotic applications in the real world. This episode uses Braitenberg Vehicles to explore how simple structures can generate complex animal behavior.

“When we analyze a mechanism we tend to over estimate its complexity.” – Valentino Braitenberg – Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology

Think back to the last time you saw a cockroach scurry into hiding when you turned on the lights. Perhaps your first thought was to jump on the closest chair and get your feet as far away as possible. But then your second thought, as you watch the cockroach actively seek the shade, might be that it was intentionally trying to hide from you. Or even worse, if it started running toward you that it was coming to attack or scare you off!

Now imagine you want to build a robot that could simulate the behavior of the cockroach. How would you approach its design? It’s obvious that you’d need some kind of light sensor so your robot could tell the bright areas from the shade. But you’d probably also want a camera and image recognition software so it could recognize people or any other object that it deemed a threat. Lastly, once it understands the risk it is dealing with you might program in some fight or flight logic that would tell your robot whether this was a run and hide situation or a stand your ground and attack situation. This would be a complex robot and building complex robots can be hard.

But there is a simpler way to generate the behavior of the cockroach. A way that, as it turns out, might actually be closer to how the neurons are structured and interact inside the roaches brain. And we can demonstrate this method using Braitenberg Vehicles.

Valentino Braitenberg was a neuroscientist and cyberneticist who used very simple electro-mechanical vehicles as a way to communicate how animal psychology could have evolved. His thought exercises, generally referred to as Braitenberg Vehicles, begin as a single sensor connected directly to a single actuator and evolve through multiple iterations into vehicles that can remember, have the ability to predict, and develop an ego.

In this video, we develop a few of these vehicles and use them to explore how simple structures can generate complex animal behavior.


If you liked this lecture, you may also be interested in:

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

 



tags:


Brian Douglas Brian Douglas is the Attitude Determination and Controls Lead at Planetary Resources, Inc. , he is also the content creator of the Control System Lectures YouTube channel.
Brian Douglas Brian Douglas is the Attitude Determination and Controls Lead at Planetary Resources, Inc. , he is also the content creator of the Control System Lectures YouTube channel.





Related posts :



A flexible lens controlled by light-activated artificial muscles promises to let soft machines see

  30 Oct 2025
Researchers have designed an adaptive lens made of soft, light-responsive, tissue-like materials.

Social media round-up from #IROS2025

  27 Oct 2025
Take a look at what participants got up to at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

Using generative AI to diversify virtual training grounds for robots

  24 Oct 2025
New tool from MIT CSAIL creates realistic virtual kitchens and living rooms where simulated robots can interact with models of real-world objects, scaling up training data for robot foundation models.

Robot Talk Episode 130 – Robots learning from humans, with Chad Jenkins

  24 Oct 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Chad Jenkins from University of Michigan about how robots can learn from people and assist us in our daily lives.

Robot Talk at the Smart City Robotics Competition

  22 Oct 2025
In a special bonus episode of the podcast, Claire chatted to competitors, exhibitors, and attendees at the Smart City Robotics Competition in Milton Keynes.

Robot Talk Episode 129 – Automating museum experiments, with Yuen Ting Chan

  17 Oct 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Yuen Ting Chan from Natural History Museum about using robots to automate molecular biology experiments.

What’s coming up at #IROS2025?

  15 Oct 2025
Find out what the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems has in store.

From sea to space, this robot is on a roll

  13 Oct 2025
Graduate students in the aptly named "RAD Lab" are working to improve RoboBall, the robot in an airbag.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence