The project
MindRACES (From Reactive to Anticipatory Cognitive Embodied Systems) is a European research project funded by the EU 6th Framework Programme (Information Society and Technologies — Cognitive Systems, Project IST-511931), running from October 2004 to December 2007. Scientific coordinator: Rino Falcone (ISTC-CNR).
Research goals
Investigating anticipatory cognitive mechanisms — the ability of a system (biological or artificial) to predict the outcome of its own actions and to control perception by anticipating future stimuli. The domain crosses AI, neuroscience, psychology and cognitive engineering.
Results
- 80+ international scientific publications
- Software and robotic artefacts for active vision, robotic arm control, ambient intelligence
- International events: ABiALS 2008, Fall Symposium 2005
- 7 research institutions across Italy and Europe
noze’s role
noze’s contribution to the consortium was broad and multi-layered — not just engineering, but also scientific research:
- AKIRA framework — noze co-authored and led the development of AKIRA (Artificial Knowledge Interface for Reasoning Applications), the C++ multithreaded framework on which several of the project’s cognitive artefacts were built. Modular architecture, schema-based design, support for Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy Cognitive Maps.
- Anticipatory robotics — direct contribution to research on anticipatory mechanisms applied to robotics, with publications such as The Anticipatory Approach in Robotics: A Comparative Analysis (Calvi, Tutino, Pezzulo — WIVA 2006).
- Distributed cognitive architectures — co-author of DiPRA (Distributed Practical Reasoning Architecture), published at IJCAI 2006/2007.
- Schema-based models — Schema-based design and the AKIRA Schema Language (LNAI 4520, 2007), Designing Modular Architectures in the Framework AKIRA (Multiagent and Grid Systems), A Schema Based Model of the Praying Mantis (SAB 2006), Toward a Perceptual Symbol System (EPIROB 2006).
- Consortium platform and infrastructure — development of the website, collaboration tools and document archive, still online today.