A Brain-Inspired Goal-Oriented Robot Navigation System

Abstract

Autonomous navigation in unknown environments is still a challenge for robotics. Many efforts have been exerted to develop truly autonomous goal-oriented robot navigation models based on the neural mechanism of spatial cognition and mapping in animals’ brains. Inspired by the Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network (SPAUN) neural model and neural navigation mechanism, we developed a brain-like biologically plausible mathematical model and applied it to robotic spatial navigation tasks. The proposed cognitive navigation framework adopts a one-dimensional ring attractor to model the head-direction cells, uses the sinusoidal interference model to obtain the grid-like activity pattern, and gets optimal movement direction based on the entire set of activities. The application of adaptive resonance theory (ART) could effectively reduce resource consumption and solve the problem of stability and plasticity in the dynamic adjustment network. This brain-like system model broadens the perspective to develop more powerful autonomous robotic navigation systems. The proposed model was tested under different conditions and exhibited superior navigation performance, proving its effectiveness and reliability.