Robot Learning - Three case studies in Robotics and Machine Learning

ABSTRACT This paper describes methodologies applied and results achieved in the framework of the ESPRIT Basic Research Action B-Learn II (project no. 7274). B-Learn II is one of the rst projects working towards an application of Machine Learning techniques in elds of industrial relevance, which are much more complex than the domains usually treated in ML research. In particular, B-Learn II aims at easing the programming of robots and enhancing their ability to cooperate with humans. The paper gives a short introduction to learning in robotics and to the three applications under consideration in B-Learn II. Afterwards, learning methodologies used in each of the applications, the experimental setups, and the results obtained are described. In general, it can be found that providing good examples and a good interface between the learning and the performance components is crucial for success, so the extension of the "Programming by Demonstration" paradigm to robotics has become one of the key aspects of B-Learn II.