It starts...

So this will be the first of many posts on this subject. First, a small introduction:

I am Carlos Neves, studying at IST, Lisbon, Portugal and finishing my masters degree on Electrotecnic Engineering. The one thing left is the final dissertation. I chose to work with a Humanoid robot, in order to develop a learning system that allows him to learn and adapt his walking pattern in real time. Professor Rodrigo Ventura, from ISR, gives me orientation and helps me in what he can.

This work actually became more complex tham we initially believed it to be. First, it was decided the robot to be used what be the Bioloid Humanoid instead of Robonova. This was majorly based on the fact that IST at already some works done with Bioloid in other departments and the fact that the representatives have great availability in Portugal. Other than that, the two robots are quite similar.

I believe now is the time to separate the various branches of this task, explain the problems and I shall address to them in future posts.
First off, the algorithm. We want a learning algorithm, that can be run in real time, and that ressembles the human learning and acting system.
Secondly, the robot. While the skeleton of the humanoid will still be the Bioloid, the CM5 processing module and the default sensors haven't got the processing power nor the necessary information to feed the algorithm. Therefore some changes will be made, and the exact hardware and solutions (and problems) will be posted.

While I hope this blog can help others to overcome the problems I encounter, I also hope to get some help and tips from the community.

Keep an eye on the blog, I expect to post quite a lot in the next few days to get things up to date.