Brain

Octofungi's brain currently performs only reflexive behavior. The brain tells the eyes to open every 1.5 seconds. The eyes return to the brain the intensity of light hitting them at that instant. The brain processes this information through a simplified eight dimensional Kohonen neural network. A Kohonen network is a software analogue of the biological structure of a brain; that is, it contains software neurons which interact by way of software neurotransmitters. Octofungi's current brain, however, is using a simplified version of this neural network which only learns Octofungi's environment. The brain compares the information from the eyes with Octofungi's learned environment to determine whether anything is moving. If something is, the brain will react with either an instinctive "flinch" to simulate fear or an instinctive attraction to simulate curiosity.

Octofungi can react to changing ambient conditions. As conditions change, Octofungi will observe the change and readjust its environmental map accordingly.

Octofungi can also become bored. If it doesn't see any changing conditions for a while, Octofungi will move around a bit on its own.

The heart of the brain is four Microchip 16C57 PIC microcontrollers. These microcontrollers contain software to control the legs, the leg sensors, feedback, input from the eyes, and filtering of the inputs. The brain also connects to the spine.

For information about upcoming versions of the brain, see future plans.

Top and bottom board of Octofungi's brain

eyes brain body interlocks spine boards shoulders
legs leg sensors muscle wire materials electronics
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