The Open Dynamics of Braitenberg Vehicles

Scott Hotton, Jeff Yoshimi

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Year: 2024
• Topic: Psychology
• eBook ISBN:
  9780262378956
• Subtopic: Complex Analysis
• Index: Psychology

Powering the concept of a Braitenberg vehicle, developed in 1984 by the Italian-Austrian cyberneticist Valentino Braitenberg, is the idea that simple systems can produce complex behaviors. A pair of interacting Braitenberg vehicles is simple, but they can meander, wind around, and follow each another in a number of ways. In this book, Scott Hotton and Jeff Yoshimi show how dynamical systems theory—in particular the theory of open dynamic systems—can be used to analyze pairs of these vehicles in great detail. The result of the authors' long-standing collaboration at the intersection of mathematics, philosophy, cognitive science, and biology, The Open Dynamics of Braitenberg Vehicles offers a rigorous mathematical foundation for embodied cognition, especially when it comes to two-way interactions between an agent and its environment.

Following an introduction to dynamical systems theory, and the most detailed mathematical analysis of Braitenberg vehicles to date, Hotton and Yoshimi discuss how their results can be applied to the study of physical and biological systems. They also describe their work's relevance to debates in the philosophy of embodied cognitive science. Combining the best features of embodied and representational approaches to cognitive science, complete with code and simulations, The Open Dynamics of Braitenberg Vehicles provides an extremely accessible and visually rich look into the workings and applications of open dynamical systems.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Specifications for the Braitenberg Vehicles
• 3. Overview of Dynamical Systems Theory
• 4. The Open Dynamical Systems for a Pair of Braitenberg Vehicles
• 5. The Relative Equilibria of the Total Dynamical System
• 6. Revolving Type Relative Equilibria and Their Bifurcations
• 7. Translating Type Relative Equilibria and Their Bifurcations
• 8. Relation to Naturally Occurring Systems
• Epilogue
• A. Solutions to the Approximate Bifurcation Equation
• B. Computing the Matrix J(r,*)
• C. The Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors for J(r,*) and JT
• List of Symbols
• References
• Index