The Cog Project: Building a Humanoid Robot

Abstract

To explore issues of developmental structure, physical embodiment,integration of multiple sensory and motor systems, and social interaction,we have constructed an upper-torso humanoid robot called Cog. Therobot has twenty-one degrees of freedom and a variety of sensorysystems, including visual, auditory, vestibular, kinesthetic, andtactile senses. This chapter gives a background on the methodologythat we have used in our investigations, highlights the researchissues that have been raised during this project, and provides asummary of both the current state of the project and our long-termgoals. We report on a variety of implemented visual-motor routines(smooth-pursuit tracking, saccades, binocular vergence, and vestibular-ocularand opto-kinetic re?exes), orientation behaviors, motor control techniques,and social behaviors (pointing to a visual target, recognizing jointattention through face and eye nding, imitation of head nods, andregulating interaction through expressive feedback). We further outlinea number of areas for future research that will be necessary to builda complete embodied system.