Potential fields and perception

Potential fields and perception

In the previous examples, the force of the potential field at any given point
was a function of both the relative distance between the robot and an object
and the magnitude profile. The strength of a potential field can be a
function of the stimulus, regardless of distance. As an example recall from
Ch. 3 the feeding behavior of baby arctic terns where the feeding behavior
is guided by the stimulus “red.” This can be modeled by an attractive field.
The bigger and redder an object in the baby’s field of view, the stronger the
attraction, suggesting that a magnitude profile using an increasing exponential
function. Another important point that has already been mentioned is
that potential fields are ego-centric because robot perception is ego-centric.