Traditionally, human are the only animals considered able to plan ahead. However, recent research works demonstrate that other higher mammals (like bonobos) are able to save tools for future use. As published in Nature by Nicholas J. Mulcahy and Josep Call from Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology [1], this skill is not uniquely human. In their experiments, bonobos and orangutans transported and saved appropriate tools above baseline levels to use them for 1 hour to 14 hours later. These results suggest that the precursor skills for planning for the future evolved before 14 million years ago.

Some researchers see planning for the future as one of the key functionalities of consciousness. A related controversial question is whether or not consciousness (or imagination) is necessary for planning. Human planning involves imagination of the future states, and imagination is usually related to consciousness.

[1] Nicholas J. Mulcahy and Josep Call. Apes Save Tools for Future Use. Science 19 May 2006: Vol. 312. no. 5776, pp. 1038 – 1040.

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Polymorphic Robotics, self-adaptive, self-organizing, and generally self-* properties of robotics are usually related to the field of machine consciousness. Basically, some degree of self-consciousness is required to self-repair or self-heal a robot. The SASO 2007 Conference covers this discipline (First IEEE International Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems. Boston, Mass., USA, July 9-11, 2007) [1].

Related topics are: self-organization, self-adaptiveness, self-management, self-monitoring, self-tuning, self-repair, self-configuration. There is no doubt that integrating these kinds of techniques with higher cognitive models requires a machine consciousness like model.

Some examples of polymorphic robots are available from the Polymorphic Robotics Lab at University of Southern California [2].

• [1] SASO 2007 Conference 
• [2] USC Polymorphic Robotics Lab
• [3] Polymorphic Robots Videos

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 The website of CRONOS PROJECT covers Owen Holland's and Tom Troscianko's EPSRC Adventure fund project to build a conscious robot (GR/S47946/01). This three year project is taking place at the University of Essex and the University of Bristol and will finish in April 2007.

The main components of this project are a hardware robot called CRONOS, a virtual copy of this robot known as SIMNOS, a visual system closely based on the human brain, the SpikeStream neural simulator, and systematic methods for identifying and describing the conscious states of the system.

• Cronos Project Homepage

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   Owen Holland
  University of Essex

  He is PI of the EPSRC Adventure Fund project 'Machine consciousness through internal modelling', sometimes known as 'the CRONOS project'.

• Homepage: Owen Holland

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 Emeritus Professor Aleksander
 Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
 Head of Intelligent and Interactive Systems
 Imperial College London
 

• Homepage: Igor Aleksander

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Minds and Machines

ISSN: 0924-6495 (print version)
ISSN: 1572-8641 (electronic version)
Journal no. 11023
Springer Netherlands

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