On the Role of Robot Simulations in Embodied Cognitive Science

Abstract

Research in embodied cognitive science emphasizes that a close interaction of brain, body and environment is central to the emergence of cognitive processes. Much work on embodied artificial intelligence has therefore shifted focus from purely computational modeling to autonomous mobile robotics. Many researchers emphasize the importance of working with real robots rather than simulations which usually cannot fully capture the complexities of the physical world. However, from a cognitive science point of view, robot simulations nevertheless have an important, complementary role to play, due to the fact that in many cases they allow for more extensive, systematic experimentation as well as for experiments, e.g. with evolving robot morphologies, that can only be carried out in very limited form on real robots. Furthermore, it will be argued in this paper, robot simulations are very useful tools in experimentation with active adaptation of non-trivial environments, an aspect that is still largely ignored in much embodied artificial intelligence research. 1