Navigating With a Rat Brain: A Neurobiologically-Inspired Model for Robot Spatial Representation

Abstract

This paper presents a neurobiologically-feasible spatial representation model. The model was implemented and tested on a physical autonomous mobile robot. It was shown to be both computationally simple and physically robust. The described model is a possible interpretation of the organization and function of the rat hippocampus. The paper presents relevant biological, psychological, and neurobiological data, and gives a detailed set of comparisons between the physical hippocampus and our “synthetic” rat implementation. The implications of the many similarities are described. Finally, areas for future study in both biology and robotics are suggested.