A new mental model for humanoid robots for human friendly communication introduction of learning system, mood vector and second order equations of emotion

Abstract

The authors have been developing human-like head robots in order to develop new head mechanisms and functions for a humanoid robot that has the ability to communicate naturally with a human by expressing human-like emotion. Furthermore, the interaction between humans and robots is one of the essential factors for the Neuro-Robotics. We believed that the Mental Dynamics caused by the stimuli from the internal and external environment is important in expressing emotion. Therefore, we newly developed a human-like head robot WE-4 (Waseda Eye No.4) in 2002. The "Learning System", the "Mood Vector" and the "Second Order Equations of Emotion" were introduced to the mental model of the robot. Moreover, an internal clock was introduced as an autonomic nerve system to express the activation component of the Mood Vector. And, we realized the expression of mental transition caused by the stimuli from the internal and external environment of the robot. In this paper, we describe the new mental model of a human-like head robot WE-4.