UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
	     COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM

			    presents


"Hormonal Modulation of Developmental Plasticity in an Epigenetic Robot"

			  John Lones
    (Adaptive Systems Research Group, School of Computer Science,
		  University of Hertfordshire)

         	  22 March 2017 (Wednesday)
			   1 - 2 pm


		  Hatfield, College Lane Campus
			Seminar Room D102

		  Everyone is Welcome to Attend

		  Refreshments will be available


Abstract:

       Hormones have long been used in robot architectures as a way of
facilitating short term adaptation to different environmental challenges
e.g., fearful response in the presence of a threat. However, what if these
same hormones could also be used to regulate the long term development of
a robot? Taking inspiration from recent advances in biology, in this talk
I will present our work using simulated artificial hormones to regulate
developmental plasticity --  changes in neurons and synaptic connections
in a robot's neural network . Here I will demonstrate how this method
not only leads to a highly adaptive robot, but also the emergence of
unplanned developmental phenomena with similarities to our own.

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Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium
http://cs-colloq.cs.herts.ac.uk