Computational Model for an Extendable Robot Body Schema

Abstract

The body schema is a perceptually derived model of the body which the brain uses to register the location of sensations on the body and to control body movements. This model of the body is not static and can be extended by noncorporeal objects attached to the body such as clothes, ornaments, and tools. This paper describes a computational model for a robot body schema that has extensibility properties similar to its biological analog. The model is based on the model developed by Morasso and Sanguineti (1995) which is modified here to have extendibility properties. The notion of extended robot body schema is introduced.