cortex: thesis/cortex.org comparison

comparison thesis/cortex.org @ 495:c816594fbbe6

changes from Dylan.

author	Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date	Sat, 29 Mar 2014 23:01:49 -0400
parents	21b9dcec8d71
children	609356a82760

comparison

equal deleted inserted replaced

-:092b60381af0
+:c816594fbbe6
 new =CORTEX= creatures using Blender, a free 3D modeling program.
 - I built =EMPATH=, which uses =CORTEX= to identify the actions of
 a worm-like creature using a computational model of empathy.
-* Building =CORTEX=
+* COMMENT Building =CORTEX=
 I intend for =CORTEX= to be used as a general-purpose library for
 building creatures and outfitting them with senses, so that it will
 be useful for other researchers who want to test out ideas of their
 own. To this end, wherver I have had to make archetictural choices
 about =CORTEX=, I have chosen to give as much freedom to the user as
 possible, so that =CORTEX= may be used for things I have not
 forseen.
-** COMMENT Simulation or Reality?
+** Simulation or Reality?
 The most important archetictural decision of all is the choice to
 use a computer-simulated environemnt in the first place! The world
 is a vast and rich place, and for now simulations are a very poor
 reflection of its complexity. It may be that there is a significant
 time in the simulated world can be slowed down to accommodate the
 limitations of the character's programming. In terms of cost,
 doing everything in software is far cheaper than building custom
 real-time hardware. All you need is a laptop and some patience.
-** COMMENT Because of Time, simulation is perferable to reality
+** Because of Time, simulation is perferable to reality
 I envision =CORTEX= being used to support rapid prototyping and
 iteration of ideas. Even if I could put together a well constructed
 kit for creating robots, it would still not be enough because of
 the scourge of real-time processing. Anyone who wants to test their
 the simulation. The cost is that =CORTEX= can sometimes run slower
 than real time. This can also be an advantage, however ---
 simulations of very simple creatures in =CORTEX= generally run at
 40x on my machine!
-** COMMENT What is a sense?
+** What is a sense?
 If =CORTEX= is to support a wide variety of senses, it would help
 to have a better understanding of what a ``sense'' actually is!
 While vision, touch, and hearing all seem like they are quite
 different things, I was supprised to learn during the course of
 #+caption: density of touch sensors at the tip.
 #+name: finger-side-view
 #+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 10cm
 [[./images/finger-1.png]]
-** COMMENT Video game engines provide ready-made physics and shading
+** Video game engines provide ready-made physics and shading
 I did not need to write my own physics simulation code or shader to
 build =CORTEX=. Doing so would lead to a system that is impossible
 for anyone but myself to use anyway. Instead, I use a video game
 engine as a base and modify it to accomodate the additional needs
 texture to a model. Finally, because video game engines support a
 large number of users, as long as =CORTEX= doesn't stray too far
 from the base system, other researchers can turn to this community
 for help when doing their research.
-** COMMENT =CORTEX= is based on jMonkeyEngine3
+** =CORTEX= is based on jMonkeyEngine3
 While preparing to build =CORTEX= I studied several video game
 engines to see which would best serve as a base. The top contenders
 were:
 I chose jMonkeyEngine3 because it because it had the most features
 out of all the free projects I looked at, and because I could then
 write my code in clojure, an implementation of =LISP= that runs on
 the JVM.
-** COMMENT =CORTEX= uses Blender to create creature models
+** =CORTEX= uses Blender to create creature models
 For the simple worm-like creatures I will use later on in this
 thesis, I could define a simple API in =CORTEX= that would allow
 one to create boxes, spheres, etc., and leave that API as the sole
 way to create creatures. However, for =CORTEX= to truly be useful
 #+caption: of muscles, ears, eyes, or joints.
 #+name: sense-nodes
 #+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 10cm
 [[./images/empty-sense-nodes.png]]
-** COMMENT Bodies are composed of segments connected by joints
+** Bodies are composed of segments connected by joints
 Blender is a general purpose animation tool, which has been used in
 the past to create high quality movies such as Sintel
 \cite{sintel}. Though Blender can model and render even complicated
 things like water, it is crucual to keep models that are meant to
 #+caption: simulation environment.
 #+name: name
 #+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 15cm
 [[./images/physical-hand.png]]
-** COMMENT Eyes reuse standard video game components
+** Eyes reuse standard video game components
 Vision is one of the most important senses for humans, so I need to
 build a simulated sense of vision for my AI. I will do this with
 simulated eyes. Each eye can be independently moved and should see
 its own version of the world depending on where it is.
 This vision code has already been absorbed by the jMonkeyEngine
 community and is now (in modified form) part of a system for
 capturing in-game video to a file.
-** COMMENT Hearing is hard; =CORTEX= does it right
+** Hearing is hard; =CORTEX= does it right
 At the end of this section I will have simulated ears that work the
 same way as the simulated eyes in the last section. I will be able to
 place any number of ear-nodes in a blender file, and they will bind to
 the closest physical object and follow it as it moves around. Each ear
 This system of hearing has also been co-opted by the
 jMonkeyEngine3 community and is used to record audio for demo
 videos.
-** COMMENT Touch uses hundreds of hair-like elements
+** Touch uses hundreds of hair-like elements
 Touch is critical to navigation and spatial reasoning and as such I
 need a simulated version of it to give to my AI creatures.
 Human skin has a wide array of touch sensors, each of which
 cross with a unifom distribution of touch sensors:
 #+caption: The touch profile for the touch-cube. Each pure white
 #+caption: pixel defines a touch sensitive feeler.
 #+name: touch-cube-uv-map
-#+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 10cm
+#+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 7cm
 [[./images/touch-profile.png]]
 #+caption: The touch cube reacts to canonballs. The black, red,
 #+caption: and white cross on the right is a visual display of
 #+caption: the creature's touch. White means that it is feeling
 #+caption: part of the ground.
 #+name: touch-cube-uv-map
 #+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 15cm
 [[./images/touch-cube.png]]
-** COMMENT Proprioception is the sense that makes everything ``real''
+** Proprioception is the sense that makes everything ``real''
 Close your eyes, and touch your nose with your right index finger.
 How did you do it? You could not see your hand, and neither your
 hand nor your nose could use the sense of touch to guide the path
 of your hand. There are no sound cues, and Taste and Smell
 #+caption: pitch, and White is roll.
 #+name: proprio
 #+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 11cm
 [[./images/proprio.png]]
-** COMMENT Muscles are both effectors and sensors
+** Muscles are both effectors and sensors
 Surprisingly enough, terrestrial creatures only move by using
 torque applied about their joints. There's not a single straight
 line of force in the human body at all! (A straight line of force
 would correspond to some sort of jet or rocket propulsion.)
 function: it returns the percent of the total muscle strength that
 is currently being employed. This is analogous to muscle tension
 in humans and completes the sense of proprioception begun in the
 last section.
-** COMMENT =CORTEX= brings complex creatures to life!
+** =CORTEX= brings complex creatures to life!
 The ultimate test of =CORTEX= is to create a creature with the full
 gamut of senses and put it though its paces.
 With all senses enabled, my right hand model looks like an
 With the hand fully rigged with senses, I can run it though a test
 that will test everything.
 #+caption: A full test of the hand with all senses. Note expecially
-#+caption: the interactions the hand has with itself. It feels
+#+caption: the interactions the hand has with itself: it feels
 #+caption: its own palm and fingers, and when it curls its fingers,
 #+caption: it sees them with its eye (which is located in the center
 #+caption: of the palm. The red block appears with a pure tone sound.
 #+caption: The hand then uses its muscles to launch the cube!
 #+name: integration
 #+ATTR_LaTeX: :width 16cm
 [[./images/integration.png]]
-** COMMENT =CORTEX= enables many possiblities for further research
+** =CORTEX= enables many possiblities for further research
 Often times, the hardest part of building a system involving
 creatures is dealing with physics and graphics. =CORTEX= removes
 much of this initial difficulty and leaves researchers free to
 directly pursue their ideas. I hope that even undergrads with a

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comparison thesis/cortex.org @ 495:c816594fbbe6