Biomimetic navigation models and strategies in animats

Abstract

This paper describes a hierarchy of four navigation strategies -- guidance, place recognition-triggered response, topological navigation and metric navigation. Such a hierarchy can be used to categorize models that are inspired by current knowledge about the way animals navigate in their environments. The main mechanisms implemented in each model are described, together with the basic adaptive capacities that the corresponding strategy affords. Because biomimetic models have seldom been implemented in real robots, it is premature to compare their merits with those of traditional engineering solutions to the navigation problem. Nevertheless, the methodological options that such implementations would entail are discussed in the text.