If not, the robot might endlessly chase itself rather than the blocks.
People involved in the conception and engineering of robots designed to perceive and act know how fundamental is the ability to discriminate oneself from other entities in the environment. Without such an ability, no goal-oriented
action would be possible. ( ① )
Imagine that you have to build a robot able to search for blocks scattered in a room in order to pile them. ( ② )
Even this simple task would require that your machine be able to discriminate between stimulation that originates from its own machinery and stimulation that originates from the blocks in the environment. ( ③ )
Suppose that you equip your robot with an artificial eye and an artificial arm to detect, grab, and pile the blocks. ( ④ )
To be successful, your machine will have to have some built-in
system enabling it to discriminate between the detection of a block and the detection of its own arm. ( ⑤ )
Your robot would engage in circular, self-centered
acts that would drive it away from the target or external goal. * entity: 실재물(物)
