Asimo and BigDog

Asimo, a humanoid robot made by Honda, has been developed using a computational model and is known for its smooth, fluid motions and sleek appearance.

Asimo is not an autonomous robot. It can't enter a room and make decisions on its own about how to navigate. The robot either has to be programmed to do a specific job in a specific area that has markers that it understands, or it has to be manually controlled by a human. Either by a wireless controller, gestures or voice commands.

CUTE!
But if Asimo falls midtask, then he's lost. I'm guessing you would have to command it to get up again...
Now I'm looking at these amazing inventions through the lens of 'a mover'. If I were Asimo, I would want to be more like BigDog.

OK, so not so pretty, but BigDog, a rough-terrain robot that walks, runs, climbs and carries heavy loads, and is powered by a system that is a more 'embodied' model of movement using senses, much like our nervous system. The robots on-board computer controls locomotion, processes sensors and handles communications with the user. This system keeps it balanced on a wide variety of terrains and handles navigation. AMAZING!!! The sensors for locomotion include joint position, joint force, ground contact, ground load, a gyroscope and a stereo vision system. Other sensors focus on the internal state of BigDog, monitoring the hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, engine functions, battery charge and others. The result is something much more animal, and look what happens when it's pushed over...

models of learning

The computational model (of learning movement) is the idea that the brain controls the body, or 'tells' the body what to do, so the brain becomes a passive respondent to the brain when carrying out an intention. 

The Embodied model is the idea that the brain is only a small part of the 'control' of movement. Embodied movement is a constant conversation between inner and outer sensory output through our nervous systems. So when you have an intention, the body carries it out.

Just so you know, I'm learning to teach based more on the embodied approach, focusing on instructing feelings rather then instructing people how to literally place their bodies. It's my intention when teaching that I help make clear movement patterns in peoples bodies and provide tools to map and make those patterns useful, rather then teach 'poses'. It is taking ALOT of undoing of the things I thought I knew. Chaos : )