Ashby’s mobile homeostat

Abstract

In Design for a Brain, W. Ross Ashby speculates about the possibility of creating a mobile homeostat “with its critical states set so that it seeks situations of high illumination.” This paper explores a realization of Ashby’s homeostat within a simulated robot and environment exploring the question as to whether the classic homeostat architecture is able to adapt to this environment. Remaining faithful to the physical design of Ashby’s device, this simulation enables us to quantitatively evaluate Ashby’s proposition that homeostasis can be achieved through ultrastability. Following his law of requisite variety it is demonstrated that increasing the number of units increases the time taken to reach equilibrium, and that conversely, reducing internal connectivity reduces the time taken to reach equilibrium.