The Psikharpax project

This project started in 2002. Up to 2004, it has been supported by the CNRS interdisciplinary program ROBEA. Since January 2006, it benefits from a 4-year grant, within the framework of the EU Integrated Project ICEA (Integrating Cognition Emotion and Autonomy).

The objectives of this project are both fundamental and applied. On the one hand, it aims at better understand the nervous system of the rat and the selective advantages afforded by the various circuits and mechanisms that contribute to its survival. Within this perspective, the AnimatLab is engaged in a long-standing cooperation with the Physiology of Perception and Action Lab (LPPA)

More specifically, the Psikharpax robot should be able of:

• using this map to localize itself and to localize places where past rewards or punishments have been delivered;
• learning which behaviors and objects generate which emotions likely to satisfy which motivations ;
• using its motivational system to select its current goal, like seeking a charging station or exploring its environment;
• changing its current behavior according to its emotions, like the fear caused by some dangerous event ;
• controlling its energy balance.

Why a rat?

"Rats live in cages; they do not go on binges the night before one has planned an experiment; they do not kill each other off in wars; they do not invent engines of destruction, and, if they did, they would not be so inept about controlling such engines; they do not go in for either class conflicts or race conflicts; they avoid politics, economics, and papers on psychology. They are marvelous, pure, and delightful. And, as soon as I possibly can, I am going to climb back again out on that good old philogenetic limb and sit there, this time right side up and unashamed, wiggling my whiskers at all the silly, yet at the same time far too complicated, specimens of homo sapiens whom I shall see strutting and fighting and messing things up, down there on the ground below me."

Edward C. Tolman. A stimulus-expectancy need-cathexis psychology. Science. 101,160-166,1945.

Videos

Publications

2006

	Dolle, L. (2006). Modélisation computationnelle du contrôle de deux stratégies de navigation en compétition. Rapport de stage du Master UPMC/IAD. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Dolle, L., Khamassi, M., Guillot, A., and Chavarriaga, R. (2006). Coordination of learning modules for competing navigation strategies into different mazes. In Poster presented at Workshop Parallel memory systems for spatial cognition. Rome, Italy. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Khamassi, M., Martinet, L.-E., and Guillot, A. (2006). Combining self-organizing maps with mixture of experts: Application to an actor-critic of reinforcement learning in the basal ganglia. In Nolfi, S., Baldassare, G., Calabretta, R., Hallam, J., Marocco, D., Meyer, J.-A., Miglino, O., and Parisi, D., editors, From Animals to Animats: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB), pages 394-405, Rome, Italy. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Wiener, S., Khamassi, M., Peyrache, A., Douchamps, V., Tierney, P., and Battaglia, F. (2006). Transitions in behaviorally correlated activity in medial prefrontal neurons of rats acquiring and switching strategies in a Y-maze. In Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. New Orleans, USA. [ bib ]

2005

	Girard, B., Filliat, D., Meyer, J.-A., Berthoz, A., and Guillot, A. (2005). Integration of navigation and action selection functionalities in a computational model of cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loops. Adaptive Behavior, 13(2):115-130. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Khamassi, M., Lachèze, L., Girard, B., Berthoz, A., and Guillot, A. (2005). Actor-critic models of reinforcement learning in the basal ganglia: From natural to artificial rats. Adaptive Behavior, Special Issue Towards Artificial Rodents, 13(2):131-148. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Meyer, J.-A., Guillot, A., Girard, B., Khamassi, M., Pirim, P., and Berthoz, A. (2005). The Psikharpax project: Towards building an artificial rat. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 50(4):211-223. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Zapata, R. and Meyer, J.-A. (2005). Le projet Psikharpax: objectifs et réalisations. In Ghallab, editor, Journées Bilan ROBEA, 29-31 Mars 2005, Montpellier, pages 19-26, Toulouse. Publication LAAS. [ bib | .pdf ]
	d'Erfurth, A., Peyrache, A., Guillot, A., and Arleo, A. (2005). Un modèle computationnel biomimétique de navigation pour le robot-rat Psikharpax. In Guéré, editor, RJCIA, pages 327-330. [ bib | .pdf ]

2004

	Degris, T., Lachèze, L., Boucheny, C., and Arleo, A. (2004a). A Spiking Neuron Model of Head-Direction Cells for Robot Orientation. In Schaal, S., Ijspeert, A., Billard, A., Vijayakumar, S., Hallam, J., and Meyer, J., editors, From Animals to Animats: P/roceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, pages 255-263, Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Press-Bradford Books. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Degris, T., Sigaud, O., Wiener, S. I., and Arleo, A. (2004b). Rapid response of head direction cells to reorienting visual cues: A computational model. Neurocomputing, 58-60C:675-682. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Filliat, D., Girard, B., Guillot, A., Khamassi, M., Lachèze, L., and Meyer, J.-A. (2004). State of the artificial rat Psikharpax. In Schaal, S., Ijspeert, A., Billard, A., Vijayakumar, S., Hallam, J., and Meyer, J.-A., editors, From Animals to Animats 8: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, pages 3-12, Cambridge, MA. MIT Press. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Girard, B., Filliat, D., Meyer, J.-A., Berthoz, A., and Guillot, A. (2004). An integration of two control architectures of action selection and navigation inspired by neural circuits in the vertebrates: The basal ganglia. In Bowman, H. and Labiouse, C., editors, Connectionist Models of Cognition and Perception II, Proceedings of the Eighth Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop, pages 72-81. World Scientific. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Gourichon, S. (2004). Utilisation d'un compas visuel pour la navigation d'un robot mobile. PhD thesis, LIP6/AnimatLab, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Spécialité Informatique. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Khamassi, M., Girard, B., Berthoz, A., and Guillot, A. (2004). Comparing three critic models of reinforcement learning in the basal ganglia connected to a detailed actor in a S-R task. In Groen, F., Amato, N., Bonarini, A., Yoshida, E., and Kröse, B., editors, Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems, pages 430-437, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. IOS Press. [ bib ]
	Meyer, J.-A. (2004). Le projet Psikharpax: objectifs et réalisations. In Ghallab, editor, 2èmes Journées du Programme Interdisciplinaire ROBEA, pages 35-42, Toulouse. Publication LAAS. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Meyer, J.-A., Guillot, A., Pirim, P., and Berthoz, A. (2004). Psikharpax: An autonomous and adaptive artificial rat. In Proceedings of ISR2004. CD ROM ISR, Paris. [ bib | .pdf ]
	d'Erfurth, A. (2004). Un système de navigation modulaire pour le rat artificiel Psikharpax : Connexion de deux modèles computationnels inspirés de l'hippocampe et du cortex préfrontal. [ bib | .pdf ]

2003

	Filliat, D. and Meyer, J.-A. (2003). Map-based navigation in mobile robots - I. a review of localisation strategies. Journal of Cognitive Systems Research, 4(4):243-282. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Girard, B. (2003). Intégration de la navigation et de la sélection de l'action dans une architecture de contrôle inspirée des ganglions de la base. PhD thesis, LIP6/AnimatLab, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Spécialité Informatique. [ bib | .pdf.gz ]
	Girard, B., Cuzin, V., Guillot, A., Gurney, K., and Prescott, T. (2003). A basal ganglia inspired model of action selection evaluated in a robotic survival task. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 2(3):179-200. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Gourichon, S., Meyer, J.-A., Ieng, S., Smadja, L., and Benosman, R. (2003). Estimating ego-motion using a panoramic sensor: Comparison between a bio-inspired and a camera-calibrated method. In Holstein, H. and Labrosse, F., editors, AISB03 Symposium on Biologically Inspired Vision, Theory and Application, pages 91-101. AISB. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Khamassi, M. (2003). Un modèle d'apprentissage par renforcement dans une architecture de contrôle de la sélection de l'action chez le rat artificiel Psikharpax. Spécialité Sciences Cognitives. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Khamassi, M., Girard, B., Guillot, A., and Berthoz, A. (2003). Mécanismes neuromimétiques d'apprentissage par renforcement dans l'architecture de contrôle du rat artificiel psikharpax. In Poster presented at the french conference on artificial learning (CAp) within the frame of the AFIA platform, 1-4 july 2003. Laval, France. [ bib ]
	Meyer, J.-A. and Filliat, D. (2003). Map-based navigation in mobile robots - II. a review of map-learning and path-planing strategies. Journal of Cognitive Systems Research, 4(4):283-317. [ bib | .pdf ]

2002

	Degris, T. (2002). Ratsim : un modèle neuromimétique des cellules de direction de la tête du rat. DEA Intelligence Artificielle, Reconnaissance des Formes et Applications. [ bib | .pdf ]
	Filliat, D. and Meyer, J.-A. (2002). Global localization and topological map learning for robot navigation. In Hallam, B., Floreano, D., Hallam, J., Hayes, G., and Meyer, J.-A., editors, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on simulation of adaptive behavior : From Animals to Animats (SAB-2002)., pages 131-140. The MIT Press. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Girard, B., Cuzin, V., Guillot, A., Gurney, K. N., and Prescott, T. J. (2002). Comparing a bio-inspired robot action selection mechanism with winner-takes-all. In Hallam, B., Floreano, D., Hallam, J., Hayes, G., and Meyer, J.-A., editors, From Animals to Animats 7. Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, pages 75-84. The MIT Press. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Gourichon, S., Meyer, J.-A., and Pirim, P. (2002). Using coloured snapshots for short-range guidance in mobile robots. International Journal of Robotics and Automation, 17(4):154-162. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Guillot, A. and Meyer, J.-A. (2002). Psikharpax ou l'ambition d'être un rat. La recherche, Numéro spécial : Les nouveaux robots, 350:64-67. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Meyer, J.-A. (2002). Psikharpax. vers la synthèse d'un rat artificiel. In Ghallab, editor, Actes des Journées du Programme Interdisciplinaire ROBEA, pages 29-32. LAAS. [ bib | .pdf ]

2001

Filliat, D. (2001). Cartographie et estimation globale de la position pour un robot mobile autonome (in french). PhD thesis, LIP6/AnimatLab, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Spécialité Informatique. [ bib | .ps.gz ]

2000

	Filliat, D. and Meyer, J.-A. (2000). Active perception and map-learning for robot navigation. In Meyer, J.-A., Berthoz, A., Floreano, D., Roitblat, H., and Wilson, S. W., editors, From Animals to Animats 6. Proceedings of the Sixth Conferences on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior., pages 246-255. The MIT Press. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Guillot, A. and Meyer, J.-A. (2000). Chaotic Dynamics Underlying Action Selection in Mice. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology and Life Sciences, 4(4):297-309. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Trullier, O. and Meyer, J.-A. (2000). Animat navigation using a cognitive graph. Biological Cybernetics, 83(3):271-285. [ bib | .ps.gz ]

1999

	Filliat, D. (1999). Utilisation de mécanismes de perception active pour la navigation d'un robot mobile. In Drogoul, A. and Meyer, J.-A., editors, Intelligence Artificielle Située, pages 160-174, Paris, France. Hermès. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Gourichon, S. (1999). Catégorisation distribuée et hiérarchisée de son environnement par un robot mobile. (in french). In Drogoul, A. and Meyer, J.-A., editors, Intelligence Artificielle Située, pages 87-108, Paris, France. Hermès. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Trullier, ., Shibata, R., Mulder, A. B., and Wiener, S. I. (1999). Hippocampal neuronal position selectivity remains fixed to room cues only in rats alternating between place navigation and beacon approach tasks. European Journal of Neuroscience, 11:4381-4388. [ bib ]

1998

	Donnart, J.-Y. (1998). Architecture cognitive et propriétés adaptatives d'un animat motivationnellement autonome. PhD thesis, LIP6/AnimatLab, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. [ bib | http ]
	Trullier, O. (1998). Elaboration et traitement des représentations spatiales servant à la navigation chez le rat: Enregistrements électrophysiologiques et modèles. PhD thesis, LIP6/AnimatLab, Université Paris 6, France. SpécialitSciences Cognitives. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Trullier, O. and Meyer, J.-A. (1998). Animat navigation using a cognitive graph. In Pfeifer, R. e. a., editor, From Animals to Animats 5. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, pages 213-222. The MIT Press. [ bib | .ps.gz ]

1997

	Guillot, A. et Meyer, J.-A. (1997). A cost-benefit analysis of behavioral organization in mice. Ethology, Ecology and Evolution, 9:119-132. [ bib | http ]
	Trullier, O. and Meyer, J.-A. (1997a). Biomimetic navigation models and strategies in animats. In AI Communications, number 10, pages 79-92. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Trullier, O. and Meyer, J.-A. (1997b). Place sequence learning for navigation. In Gerstner, W. e. a., editor, Artificial Neural Networks. ICANN'97, pages 757-762. Springer-Verlag. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Trullier, O., Wiener, S., Berthoz, A., and Meyer, J.-A. (1997). Biologically-based artificial navigation systems: Review and prospects. Progress in Neurobiology, 51:483-544. [ bib | .ps.gz ]

1996

	Donnart, J.-Y. and Meyer, J.-A. (1996c). Spatial exploration, map learning, and self-positioning with MonaLysa. In Maes, P. e. a., editor, From animals to animats 4. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, pages 204-213. The MIT Press. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Donnart, J.-Y. and Meyer, J.-A. (1996b). Learning reactive and planning rules in a motivationally autonomous animat. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part B: Cybernetics, 26(3):381-395. [ bib | .ps.gz ]
	Donnart, J.-Y. and Meyer, J.-A. (1996a). Hierarchical-map building and self-positioning with MonaLysa. Adaptive Behavior, 5(1):29-74. [ bib | .ps.gz ]

1995

Guillot, A. et Meyer, J.-A. (1995). A functional analysis of ultradian activity in laboratory mice. Ethology, Ecology and Evolution, 7:205-219. [ bib | http ]

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